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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Message-Id: <199608261923.MAA23022@phaeton.artisoft.com>
Subject: Re: new gcc
To: julian@current1.whistle.com (Julian Elischer)
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 1996 12:23:53 -0700 (MST)
Cc: chuckr@glue.umd.edu, freebsd-current@freefall.freebsd.org
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.95.960826111331.925C-100000@current1.whistle.com> from "Julian Elischer" at Aug 26, 96 11:17:35 am
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> Maybe it did happen momentarily and you missed it?
> 
> seriously I laugh so much about the differnce in the way 
> Americans use the word "momentarily" from the way it is used
> in OZ (and UK too I believe)
> 
> for the Americans thinking 
> "Huh?"
> We use the word Momentarily to mean "FOR a moment" , not "In a moment"
> so now interpret "The train will be leaving momentarily"
> and "Gcc2.7 will be implimented momentarily" in this new light and see
> why it breaks me up so much..

Americans use "momentarily" that way as well; we just derive it from
context.

It is not nearly so funny as the misuse of "moot".

Everyone says "it's a moot point" to mean "it's not worthy of discussion"
when they are trying to sound intellectual.  Look it up -- "moot" means
"subject to discussion".

There are lots of examples where context modifies of English words
in "American English".


					Terry Lambert
					terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.