RE: [OT] Terrific - was: [tlug] email programs

["James Cluff" <jc@example.com>]

On Mon, 26 May 2003, Godwin Stewart wrote:

> It's a bit like the French word "Formidable" which means exactly the same
> things - in both the good and bad senses.
>
> What's so astounding is that the French don't know their own language, let
> alone any foreign languages, and I, the English 16 year old kid in his
first
> year of school in France, had to explain to my fellow classmates what
> "formidable" really meant on one occasion because they didn't understand
the
> context.
>
> <sigh...>

>But in that sense, a word means whatever the speaker intends it to mean,
>and perhaps whatever the intended audience understands it to mean,
>regardless of what's in any dictionary.  I think most English speakers (at
>least in the U.S.) would understand "terrific" to mean "good".  So who's
>wrong, the dictionary, or 200,000,000 semi-literate Americans (including
>yours truly)?  It's not a facetious question, because there are other
>English speaking countries.

So wasn't that a terrific Earthquake yesterday.