USAGE Re: Defining words and how they are used

On Fri, 23 Jun 2006 08:54:24 +0100, R A Brown <ray@...>
wrote:
>Michael Adams wrote:
>[snip]
>> Is not Jihad close to the word Haj "pilgrimage"?
>Eh?
>About as close as, say, 'petal' is to 'tap' or 'tunic' is to 'nit', as
>far as I can see.
Yes; but, Michael's _main_ point was correct.

This type of "Eh?" comment is one of the ways some oldbies scare off some
newbies.

Michael has already proven difficult to "scare off"; but, Ray, I wish you
would be a little more careful to come across as polite.

>Also, unless I am mistaken, the letters rendered as 'h' in 'jihad' and
>'Haj' are not the same letter or sound in Arabic. Is not the final sound
>of 'Hajj' in fact geminate?
You are right, as a later post of Michael's confirms.

>Shouldn't the mail have been prefixed OT,
No, it's on-topic, not off-topic.

>or at least USAGE?
Yes, it's definitely USAGE.  But, getting all hung up in your underwear
about the proper use of tags is another way oldbies have scared off newbies
on this list.

Ask Henrik to do another one of his monthly reminders about the proper use
of tags.  Don't "flame" Michael for his error.

-----
eldin

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