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On Tuesday 29 Apr 2014 16:05:04 walt wrote: |
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> On 04/29/2014 05:49 AM, Peter Humphrey wrote: |
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> > Regular readers* will know... |
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> > |
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> > * Off-topic note for American readers: as far as I'm concerned, |
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"regular" |
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> > does not mean "ordinary". That neologism is even polluting our high |
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> > streets |
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> > over here. |
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> |
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> I've used both of those words all my life but never looked them up in a |
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> dictionary. |
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> |
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> Until today, of course: |
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> |
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> A thing is ordinary when it is apt to come round in the regular common order |
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> or succession of events. |
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> [1913 Webster] |
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|
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Seems it goes back a lot further than I realised. |
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> Can you give us an example of how we misuse the word "regular"? (a word I |
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> don't ordinarily use ;) |
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I don't suppose it's misuse, just different use, which is fine when separated by |
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a few thousand miles :-) . It just annoys me when I'm offered a regular coffee, |
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when I would have said standard, or medium (size). It's happened particularly |
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since our high streets were flooded with Starbucks and the like. To me, |
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"regular" is closely associated to "regularity", as one might think of in |
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personal habits (sorry!). Or, "regular as clockwork" is a common phrase and |
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gets my meaning across. |
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-- |
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Regards |
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Peter |
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