floor 'ground'

[Eric Nielsen]

There is a "forest floor", so a tree in the forest can fall on the
floor--with or without sound. And, of course, one falls on the "deck"
aboard a ship, not the floor or ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_floor

Eric



On Fri, Sep 26, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: floor 'ground'
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> =0A=
> The current war against ISIS is boots on the floor?=0A=
> =0A=
> --Charlie=0A=
> =0A=
> ________________________________________=0A=
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Joel
> S=
> . Berson <Berson at ATT.NET>=0A=
> Sent: Friday, September 26, 2014 11:05 AM=0A=
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=0A=
> Subject: Re: floor 'ground'=0A=
> =0A=
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -------------------=
> ----=0A=
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>=0A=
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>=0A=
> Subject:      Re: floor 'ground'=0A=
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ----=0A=
> =0A=
> At 9/26/2014 10:15 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:=0A=
> >I've never encountered this substitution, or the conflation in this=0A=
> >direction, but I remember it in the opposite direction.  I don't=0A=
> >know if it's specifically New York area, like "stand on (line)" and=0A=
> >"take"/"bring" reversals, but I remember people, including I think=0A=
> >me as a child, being corrected for saying "(fall on) the ground" for=0A=
> >"the floor" when inside--=0A=
> >=0A=
> >"Don't eat that--it fell on the ground"=0A=
> >"You mean the floor"=0A=
> =0A=
> I (also a New York Citier) sometimes use the "wrong" word (both=0A=
> ways), but I'm always embarrassed after it emerges and sometimes=0A=
> correct myself.  Perhaps, however, that's because my mother was a=0A=
> high school English teacher.=0A=
> =0A=
> Joel=0A=
> =0A=
> ------------------------------------------------------------=0A=
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org=0A=
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

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