[ExI] Language Changing Before Our Very Eyes

[Jef Allbright]

On 5/23/07, gts <gts_2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Here's something that bugs me:
>
> Why do people say "near-miss" when they really mean "near-collision"?

I could point out that this is another example of your expectation of
absolute meaning rather than pragmatic, context-dependent meaning, but
I won't because it's only likely to initiate another bout of
unproductive head-butting (gotta love that hyphenated term.)

Either "near-collision" or  "near-miss" can perfectly describe the
same event, but the significance, or meaning is what differs.

If that seems too obvious, you probably didn't get my point.

- Jef