Re: [tlug] email programs

["J. David Beutel" <jdb@example.com>]

On Sun, 25 May 2003, Charles Muller wrote:

> Pietro Zuco wrote:
> 
> > I'm not a native english. What do you mean with terrific? Bad or Good?
> > I read in an english book that "terrific" is an expression that sometimes means 
> > "fantastic". Sorry, I'm confused.

I think he meant "good".
 
> It's precisely for such occasions that they invented dictionaries.

If you had looked in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, you'd have seen that 
it doesn't answer his question.  But you must have thought that you knew 
the meaning of the word and that it was unambiguous, so you would have 
looked a lot better if you had just tried to answer his question.

Main Entry: ter?rif?ic
Pronunciation: t&-'ri-fik
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin terrificus, from terrEre to frighten
Date: 1667
1 a : very bad : FRIGHTFUL b : exciting or fit to excite fear or awe
2 : EXTRAORDINARY <terrific speed>
3 : unusually fine : MAGNIFICENT <terrific weather>