Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!think!maynard!campbell From: campbell@maynard.BSW.COM (Larry Campbell) Newsgroups: news.admin Subject: Re: New Map Files - Latest PATHALIAS/NETNEWS versions required Message-ID: <1034@maynard.BSW.COM> Date: 15 Dec 87 04:02:34 GMT References: <8711241022.AA12529@RUTGERS.EDU> <21871@lll-tis.arpa> <3622@hoptoad.uucp> Reply-To: campbell@maynard.UUCP (Larry Campbell) Followup-To: poster Organization: The Boston Software Works, Inc. Lines: 30 In article <3622@hoptoad.uucp> sunny@hoptoad.UUCP (Sunny Kirsten) writes: <>My dictionary shows that superCedes and superSedes are aliases for <>each other. You should get a new dictionary. There is no `c' in supersede. The word comes from the Latin verb `supersedere', "to sit above", from `super-' "above" and `sedere' "to sit" (whence also comes `sedentary'). People who spell supersede with `c' are probably victims of what is known as "folk etymology" -- confusing the root for supersede with the root for intercede (which root is `cedere', "to go"). <> Since this is typical of english, it will be typical <>of those who speak english. In acknowledgment of actual usage, <>the software ought to accept BOTH spellings. The computer should <>adapt to the nature of humans. If you mean it's typical that English speakers don't know how to spell their own language, yes, this is true, but it is also unfortunate and not be encouraged. (Apology to British readers -- I suspect most of the violence to English is done by Americans.) If people are confusing the words `cedere' and `sedere', the proper solution is not to wish their ignorance out of existence by declaring that the words are identical -- which would be a lie -- but to point out the distinction to them, enriching them thereby. -- Larry Campbell The Boston Software Works, Inc. Internet: campbell@maynard.bsw.com 120 Fulton Street, Boston MA 02109 uucp: {husc6,mirror,think}!maynard!campbell +1 617 367 6846