Words That Arent Synonyms
Words That Arent SynonymsThese words are not synonyms (but are often used as if they were):
<rebuttal>This is a word marketing copywriters use when they run out of useful things to write, which is to say nearly always.</rebuttal>
Really, this has to be the ultimate wiki page. I'm a regular visitor here and I have massive respect for what is expressed here. It's a quantum leap in wiki quality and is sure to become an instant classic.
"Classic" means old. (And "No" means not yet, according to my cats.)
Classic is not simply old. It implies old and in some sense valued.
No. According to http://www.m-w.com/ classic comes from latin classicus - of the highest class of Roman citizens, of the first rank, from classis and indeed its primary meaning is "serving as a standard of excellence, of recognized value". It also means enduring or traditional.
Whatever the origins of the word, in modern usage, the term "classic" implies age. Note that the acceptable values of "age" varies dramatically depending on context; a "classic" software development book is not judged in the same way as a "classic" of Western literature.
In Australia it's generally accepted that you're allowed to punch someone in the nose if they say something like "Less? I think you mean fewer.." -- LukeGorrie
Several years ago I took to always correcting people's usage of the words less/fewer, whether they were correct or not. Most people just think "what a dick, who cares?", but some people find it funny. Ok, very few. And I particularly like the expression "one, some, or fewer" which when said quickly almost sounds like it means something.
Now even express checkout lines at the grocery stores here in the US say "Ten Items or Fewer". I first heard this distinction mentioned about 25 years ago and never dreamed it would spread so far. -- RobertField
That's because all the guys named Les kept getting in line with several dozen items.
"Less people" is one that always gets me. "There were less people here last night". What, like there were guys here missing limbs or something?
Many (US) newscasters have taken to using "up to X or more." For example, a new government program will cost "up to $100 billion or more." Thanks! That cleared it up.
Not entirely related, but what gets my goat is "New and Improved!". Come on! It's either "new" or it's "improved" - you can't have it both ways, marketeers! -- DarrenIrvine
But "New or Improved!" doesn't have the right ring to it.
There are too many cases where we, as software developers, let something have twelve different names because we can't decide what to call it. And sometimes in so doing, we step on words that should be allocated for something else. I'll remember this page next time I stumble upon an example of that.
I think I know what you mean: words that have similar meanings, but are so overloaded that they may mean different things depending upon context. How about these?
In a lighter vein, how about:
In the same vein: OrthogonalConcepts
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