[Corpora-List] Moving Lexical Semantics from Alchemy to Science

[Angus B. Grieve-Smith]

On 1/28/2011 11:42 AM, Yorick Wilks wrote:
> Examples are more fun than computing, of course, and Im still obsessed with things like "rubber duck" (in the bath) doesnt go the same way as "rubber chicken" (banquet food, as well as being a comedy prop)--I suppose enough facts about the distribution of meats at banquets might make this predictable, but Im not confident.
     I just want to point out that until this week I had never heard of 
"rubber chicken" used to talk about actual food, only the comedy prop sense.

On 1/28/2011 12:24 PM, Tomas By wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea
>
> "The Phasmatodea [...] are an order of insects, whose members are
> variously known as [...] walking sticks or stick-bugs (in the United
> States and Canada) [...]"
     I have no evidence, but it's my distinct impression that whoever 
came up with that name for the insects was intending to make a pun.

-- 
				-Angus B. Grieve-Smith
				grvsmth at panix.com


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