From: utzoo!dciem!mmt Newsgroups: net.nlang Title: Re: Words fraught with meaning Article-I.D.: dciem.207 Posted: Tue Mar 8 15:48:46 1983 Received: Tue Mar 8 18:43:00 1983 References: mitccc.412 I think "Crown Prince Burton, Member of the Usenet Ilk" is almost correct in his use of "Ilk". I believe it originally meant "clan", as in "The MacGregor of that Ilk", which refers to the chief of the clan MacGregor. Other uses are by extension, and I don't think the word has a bad connotation overall (though to some people, it may). Martin Taylor PS If I were less lazy, I'd look it up in the OED, but you can do that for yourselves if you want.