In article ,
Rusty Hinge writes:
|
| Indeed, but it is relatively rare for a single dialect not to distinguish
| two things that are (a) both commonly used and (b) where there is a
| significant possibility of confusion. Muffin is unambiguous, once you
| know which side of the pond you are.
|
| Unfortunately not.
|
| You can ask for a muffin and get a proper little flat breadlingthing, or
| you may be offered a large cup-cake - on this side of the pond.

Well, that's because we have sold our souls to the Yankees - using the
word muffin to mean a polyfilla/sawdust cupcake is a modernism (not
more than a couple of decades old).

| Harrap's New Shorter French and English Dictionary: (But still requires
| a fork-lift...)*
|
| *How big/heavy is the Standard version?

The version of the Larousse Francaise I saw in the Sorbonne was about
the size of the Shorter Oxford. If OUP weren't such idiots, I and
lots of other people would buy CD-ROMs of the OED. I haven't got the
space for the paper version.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.