Stewart Stremler wrote:
begin quoting Todd Walton as of Wed, Jun 22, 2005 at 04:08:42PM -0700:
On 6/22/05, Stewart Stremler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
So a meteor may be a streak of light, but it's not ONLY a streak of light.
I don't know... Looking at the following page:
http://www.google.com/search?q=define:meteor
I see several definitions that say it's *only* the light, and several
that say it's the light *or* the rock.
Yup.
I believe wikipedia implies that it's just the light, and then uses
the term in the sense of the rock that is responsible for the light.
As a layman, I would guess
that "meteor" refers to physical material. So, all in all, I'm
...which would be the rock...
willing to bet that "meteor" means only the light, and that calling
the rock a meteor is in the class of Common Mistake.
What, a layman's interpretation is likely to be wrong? Just because it's
a layman's interpretation?
Besides, why would you use the same word to refer to the rock and to
the light it gives off?
(I don't think it's the rock that's giving off the light, but rather
that the rock is causing the light...no matter.)
Because English does that.
An action or effect is often called by the same word as the cause or
result. When you wreck a car, you end up with a wreck. When you launch
a firework, you ooh and ah at the firework. When you vomit into a
bucket, you end up with a bucket of vomit. etc. etc.
If the rock is meteor, then why wouldn't they
just call the light light? Probably, calling the light meteor came
first.
Er, you didn't follow the link I posted to
http://www.bartleby.com/64/C004/035.html
where it describes the history of the term? "Meteor" originally meant
"any atmospheric phenomena". Thus, appeals to the "original meaning" to
restrict the term run afoul of the /actual/ original meaning, where wind
was a sort of meteor....
-Stewart "Be careful about invoking original meanings of words." Stremler
The light caused (directly or indirectly) by the lump of rock is itself
called a meteor in the same sense that when I say "Turn off the porch
light" I mean stop the bulb from emitting light. When we talk about
street lights we are referring both to the emitted light as well as the
mechanisms (specifically the bulbs) which cause the emission.
I really don't think there is any confusion or ambiguity. I see this as
a strength of English rather than a fault.
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
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