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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (1978)	3/1/1999 2:31:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4711

<<Do you really want to start on the "English is a growing language and we need to accept changes in it" vs. "if anyone can use English to mean whatever they want it to, then it eventually loses all meaning" discussion?>> You're preaching to the converted and elucidating the obvious. Hmmm. Anybody want jump in here to consider two questions? 1. Did I "elucicate the obvious" by asking this question? (More broadly, can one elucidate at all by asking a non-rhetorical question?) I understand elucidate to have the meaning "make clear" or "explain." My dictionary defines it as "to make lucid or clear; explain ... to provide clarification." Did my question really explain or clarify something obvious? Indeed, if something is already obvious, can it be elucidated at all? 2. Can a non-rhetorical question constitute preaching? Back to my dictionary: "preach ... 1. to proclaim or make known in a sermon. 2. to deliver (a sermon). 3. to advocate (moral principles, conduct, etc.) as right or advisable. ---v.i. 4. to deliver a sermon. 5. to give earnest advice, esp. in an insistent, tedious, or moralizing way." Did my question constitute preaching, to the choir or otherwise? [BTY, I am delighted to report that my dictionary uses a serial comma before the and in a list of three or more items. HOORAY!!!