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Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 13:03:26 -0800 (PST)
From: [unknown]
To: Yisrael Asper <yisraelasper@comcast.net>, phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.o=
Subject: Re: PhyloCode
Yisrael Asper (yisraelasper@comcast.net) wrote: <To an extent you are right. But the terminology gets included in dictionaries as lets say definition #1, 2 etc. People who are not scientists rely heavily on dictionaries. Dictionaries in turn rely exclusively on the people. A scientific conference can get its way in= a dictionary once it has been immediately even accepted by the people.> Language is funny. Seriously. Take the word "dude," for example, now used in slang alliteration without much of a concrete concept, yet not a hundred years before it referred to a gentleman. The presence of "dude ranches" in the Americ= an West were established under this old terminology before language chan= ged the meaning gradually. "Evolution" had a connotation of development towards a maximum (kno= wn or unknown) or ultimate condition, such as the "evolution of life toward= s man" and was used primarily in explaining the progressive embryonic development through "all the stages of life," as it has been describe= d in the past. The word now means something else, and perhaps something so= less exact in meaning it requires volumes to describe it. We could as easi= ly be using another word, but instead we use "evolution."=20 There are things even in other languages that cannot be "defined" b= y those languages, such as Japanese _maru_. My #1 problem with dictionaries is that dictionaries are written by people. People make assumptions and mistakes. Dictionaries contain assumptions and mistakes. They may not carry the weight the word brin= gs in truth, and they are made from sometimes concensus opinions, reference= to older dictionaries, or regional usage. Brits and Yanks can argue on h= ow to spell colour, and the word "Yank" means something different to an Ame= rican or a Britishman -- or an Aussie. Tom Holtz starts his class telling y= ou the difference between a moose and an elk is not what you think, depe= nding on where you're from. There's a Florida panther, cougar, and puma, so= me which actually occur as recognized subspecies of *Felis concolor* (or *Puma concolor*); but my dictionary says they're the same thing. The dictionary is both right and wrong. "Dinosaur" means something to the layfolk it does NOT mean to those who study them, and vice versa, and lately "Reptilia" is undergoing a shift wherein phylogenic studies ar= e revising how we look at groups of animals and whether names for group= s should reflect their biology, or not. Then there's the vernacular for= m "birds," which means anything between the clades Maniraptora and the common flying rat---er, pigeon, yet any person will tell you what is = and is not a bird if you give them a few pictures. Birds are like pornography, perhaps. Cheers, Jaime A. Headden Little steps are often the hardest to take. We are too used to mak= ing leaps in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to = do. We should all learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world arou= nd us rather than zoom by it. "Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969) =09=09 __________________________________=20 Do you Yahoo!?=20 Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site! http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/resources/=20