[Ads-l] Query concerning the removal of "French" from "French horn" (2nd try)

W Brewer brewerwa at GMAIL.COM
Thu Jun 25 02:29:07 UTC 2015


The problem with <horn> meaning 'French horn' is that it introduces
homonymic conflict vis-a-vis the tendency to differentiate subtypes; it is
the shibboleth of a specialized, self-segregating group. It is as if Nanook
had decided that the generic word for 'snow' would henceforth & forever
mean (for his igloo exclusively, keep it under your nasautak) 'fluffy snow
with husky pawprints in it'.
<http://library.alaska.gov/hist/hist_docs/docs/anlm/200078.pdf>

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