[ExI] Language Changing Before Our Very Eyes

[Emlyn]

On 25/05/07, gts <gts_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 24 May 2007 16:52:56 -0400, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:
>
> > Well, my claim is that there are *two* separate meanings of "near"
>
> Of course you're correct about that, Lee.
>
> One connotation of "near" has nothing whatsoever to do with space-time, as
> in:
>
> "He received a B+ on his English exam, which was near to an A."
>
> Another connotation has everything to do with space-time, as in:
>
> "He sat near Lee during the English exam, so he could copy Lee's answers."
>
> > You and Damien don't buy my theory; but I don't see why.
>
> Can't speak for Damien, but I buy your theory.
>
> I simply find it interesting and a bit amusing (and somehow even wrong)
> that "miss" and "collide" are obvious antonyms, but that treating them as
> nouns and prefacing them with the adjective "near" makes them into
> synonyms, and that this is true not only technically but also in the
> common parlance.
>
> Concerning, say, a traffic incident, no literate person would blink an eye
> if you described a "near collision" as a "near miss", or vice versa!
>
> Are you aware of any other antonyms that relate this way?
>
> -gts
>
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Not quite the same, but "flammable" and "inflammable" must cause
people some confusion at times...

Dr. Nick: Inflammable means flammable? What a country!

Emlyn