Farm1 wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...
Soil = Earth = Dirt

Yes or no?

A Horticultural lecturer I knew of used to go ballistic if any student
made the mistake of referring to soil or earth as being dirt.

I sympathise with him, now that I speak fluent Pom; but it really is
only a matter of which version of the language one speaks. In England,
"dirt"="soil" goes back to the seventeenth century. Looking at the
examples in OED, my impression is that it was at first used this way in
distinction from the raw material in industries which used stone or
pure clay, and so extended to soil in more general use: not at all
unreasonable. "Soil" itself has in some contexts shifted meaning in the
other direction; and "earth" is a bit ambiguous.

One of the minor problems of being a young Australian is learning the
strange word "girt", and hence that the national anthem does _not_
contain the bizarre claim "our land is dirt by sea".

--
Mike.