[ExI] Language Changing Before Our Very Eyes

[gts]

On Thu, 24 May 2007 02:22:46 -0400, Lee Corbin <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote:

> On the one hand, "near" can be a measure of distance...On the other  
> hand, "near" can mean *almost*...

I'm glad you see the absurdity of it, Lee. :)

My thesaurus tells me that "miss" and "collide" are antonyms.

But in the common parlance, "near miss" and "near collision" are treated  
as synonyms!

When two airplanes pass each other in the sky at close proximity moving in  
opposite directions, was it a "near miss" or was it a "near collision"? It  
would seem that at least one of these two possibilities should involve  
casualties! :)

I suppose it's only a matter of opinion, but it's my opinion the language  
cops were asleep on the day people invented the term "near miss". In other  
words, I'd say the planes nearly collided.

-gts