From: utzoo!decvax!wivax!linus!genradbo!mitccc!svw Newsgroups: net.nlang Title: Words fraught with meaning Article-I.D.: mitccc.412 Posted: Wed Mar 2 17:28:03 1983 Received: Tue Mar 8 01:09:40 1983 Y'ever notice that.... (grumble. start over.) Y'ever notice that some words that are supposed to be neutral are commonly given all sorts of connotations? For instance, "ilk". I think "ilk" is only supposed to mean "type" or "category", but most often it would seem to mean "particular kind of stupidity," as in "the National Enquirer and its ilk." [quoted from net.philosophy article on psychic phenomena]. Has anyone ever seen this word used in an apparently non-negative context? Another example is "mentality", which is obviously a synonym for "delusional insanity". E.g.: military mentality (spoken by flaming pacifists). What do you suppose the chances are that someone who speaks about "the vegetarian mentality" subscribes to the Vegetarian Times? Pretty slim, I think. Any comments or other examples? Crown Prince Burton Member of the Usenet Ilk.