Subj : Re: Strange a bit
To   : Alexander Koryagin
From : Anton Shepelev
Date : Mon Sep 23 2024 14:01:40

Alexander Koryagin <0@6.221.2> wrote:
 AK> In Winnie-The-Pooh and All, All, All, by Alan Alexander Miln I read:
 AK>
 AK> -----Beginning of the citation-----
 AK>     THE Piglet lived in a very grand house in the middle of a beech-
 AK> tree, and the beech-tree was in the middle of the forest, and the Piglet
 AK> lived in the middle of the house. Next to his house was a piece of
 AK> broken board which had: "TRESPASSERS W" on it. When Christopher Robin
 AK> asked the Piglet what it meant, he said it was his grandfather's name,
 AK> and had been in the family for a long time. Christopher Robin said you
 AK> couldn't be called Trespassers W, and Piglet said yes, you could,
 AK> because his grandfather was, and it was short for Trespassers Will,
 AK> which was short for Trespassers William. And his grandfather had had two
 AK> names in case he lost one -- Trespassers after an uncle, and William
 AK> after Trespassers. "I've got two names," said Christopher Robin
 AK> carelessly.
 AK>
 AK>    "Well, there you are, that proves it," said Piglet.
 AK>     One fine winter's day when Piglet was brushing away the snow in
 AK> front of his house, he happened to look up, and there was Winnie-the-
 AK> Pooh. Pooh was walking round and round in a circle, thinking of
 AK> something else, and when Piglet called to him, he just went on walking.
 AK> ----- The end of the citation -----
 AK>
 AK>
 AK> Why at first the author used "the" before Piglet, and then he trashed it
 AK> into the dust bin, probably having tired of it? ;-)

My opinion:
   At first, `piglet' was a mere /noun/,
   but once the reader was used to him
   as a the member of the merry company,
   it becane the /name/.

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