Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
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From: kennedy@   (John W Kennedy)
Subject: Re: British v. American Vocabulary
Message-ID: <1995Sep25.213819.6614@hcc.com>
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References: <19950918.102758.09@arnod.arnod.demon.co.uk> <43pfs8$h5c@newsbf02.news.aol.com> <19950920.184622.21@arnod.arnod.demon.co.uk> <43v1q1$ejq@nnrp4.nfs.primenet.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 21:38:19 GMT
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In <43v1q1$ejq@nnrp4.nfs.primenet.com>, dtj@primenet.com (Derek Jones) writes:
>To segue into another barely-on-topic contest, are there any other words
>that have one and only one popular usage?  For example, I have never heard
>the word "extenuating" unless it was immediately followed by "circumstances".

Easy.  "diametric".

>Sometimes you hear people use the word "ye", but only when followed
>by "olde", to mean (in a comical, eccentric way), "venerable or antique",
>as in, "I'm going to boot ye olde computer now."

There are two different "ye"'s.  One is a form of "you", but the other is a
mistake, confusing an obsolete letter (still used in Icelandic) that was
pronounced "th" with "y", which it somewhat resembles.

>In the same way, we Americans can no longer think of any way to use
>"furlong" or "fortnight" except in that joke.

Not so.  Horserace tracks are still measured in furlongs.  I suspect the term
may also still be used by surveyors, who traditionally use a completely
different system of lengths:


  1 Link                                                        7.92"
  1 Rod (or, sometimes, 1 Perch)                25 Links    16' 6"
  1 Chain                             4 Rods   100 Links    66'
  1 Furlong              10 Chains   40 Rods  1000 Links   660'
  1 Mile     8 Furlongs  80 Chains  320 Rods  8000 Links  5280'

  1 Perch                        1 Square Rod       272.25 Square Feet
  1 Acre                       160 Perches        43560    Square Feet
  1 Square Mile  640 Acres  102400 Perches     27878400    Square Feet

