everyone should have a good dictionary. . . .

W Brewer brewerwa at GMAIL.COM
Mon Nov 12 19:09:00 UTC 2012


Anybody remember what _pedal_pushers_ were? Anybody  still using them could
get lynched!
Seems the Germanic folk have no such paronymic confusion of paediatrician
with paedophile: NHG Kinderarzt : Paedophile; Swedish barnla"kere :
pedofil. Finnish lastenla"a"kari : pedofiili. Let us avoid the pejorized
_ped-_, & go semantically transparent: How about _child-leech_, maybe
_kinderleech_ (who would revert to charging the old leechfee)? Considering
U.S. healthcare costs, it seems not inappropriate.

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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