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#1
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Earth v Dirt
Soil = Earth = Dirt
Yes or no? Mike -- ------------------------------------------------ Royal Naval Electrical Branch Association www.rnshipmates.co.uk |
#2
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Earth v Dirt
"Mike" wrote:
Yes or no? Arguing definitions is a fool's game, best played after liberal doses of your favorite beverage. Mine involves dark-roasted malted barley. Your mileage may vary. Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G |
#3
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Earth v Dirt
In article , Gary Woods writes: | | Arguing definitions is a fool's game, best played after liberal doses of | your favorite beverage. | Mine involves dark-roasted malted barley. | Your mileage may vary. As the editors of the OED have maintained since its inception, despite political pressure from dogmatic academics and polemicists, the English language is defined by its users. I am happy to argue definitions with anyone who wants to compete with me on pedantry, but am always prepared to admit that they are entirely context-dependent. And, in the ultimate analysis, one can always fall back on the Humpty- Dumpty defence. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
#4
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Earth v Dirt
"Mike" wrote in message ... Soil = Earth = Dirt Yes or no? Mike = Crap = Shit Yes or no P. H. |
#5
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Earth v Dirt
"Peter Harris" peterhome@home wrote in message ... "Mike" wrote in message ... Soil = Earth = Dirt Yes or no? Mike = Crap = Shit Yes or no P. H. I find that comment very misleading C or S do have a useful gardening purpose |
#6
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Earth v Dirt
Mike wrote:
Soil = Earth = Dirt Yes or no? Mike The best definition of dirt I ever heard is 'Dirt is matter out of place'. If you come indoors from the garden in your muddy wellies and walk over the best carpet, then it's dirt. If it is in the garden it's not. It takes a thousand years to make one inch of soil. Don't waste it on the carpet. |
#7
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Earth v Dirt
"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. |
#8
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Earth v Dirt
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. |
#9
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Earth v Dirt
"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
Farm1 wrote: 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". Part of the motto of the CWA is "through Country women for country womn by country women" One of the children who came along always thought this was "Three country women Four country women Five country women" |
#10
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Earth v Dirt
Farm1 wrote: "Mike Lyle" wrote in message Farm1 wrote: 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". Part of the motto of the CWA is "through Country women for country womn by country women" One of the children who came along always thought this was "Three country women Four country women Five country women" "And if one country woman should accident'ly fall..." I wouldn't be at all surprised. -- Mike. |
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