Quote:
Originally posted by sapper740
Now to add my two bits to the Pistol/revolver brouhaha......in the past "pistol" was the term applied to both revolvers and autos, however in the current lexicon it is very uncommon to hear a revolver referred to as a pistol. The English language is vibrant and constantly evolving and so must we. Case in point....Would you say,"I was sitting in my horseless carriage a fortnight ago listening to the wireless when over the ether came a report that a clutch of Wog scalliwags had waylaid our troops in Mesopotamia!" or would you say," I was sitting in my car a couple of weeks ago listening to XFM when over the satellite radio I heard that a bunch of Islamic insurgents ambushed a convoy with an I.E.D. in Iraq!" Ya mean, Homey?
Now, if I could just get people to quit referring to a detachable box magazine as a "clip"!!!! Thank y'all for your kind attention.
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Point partly taken. language changes. However sometimes it changes differently in different places. In the UK revolvers are still quite often refered to as pistols, indeed sometime a news report on the wireless (yes some of us still use this term) will refer to someone being shot with a pistol and it is only when one reads in the papers of the court procedings a fortnight (also still in common use here) later that one will find out if it was a revolver, automatic (or even single shot) weapon. Reports of road side bombs are probably as common as those of IEDs (we tend to use acronyms less [for EVA might say going outside] -whats XFM?).
I once had the pleasure of leading a project tem containing English, Scots, Irish (North and South), Canadians (Alberta and Quebec), Americans (Texas, Colorado, Ohio), Indians and one totally confused Vietnamese. It was surprising how often the same word had many different meanings. Still makes life interesting. Vive la difference
23-10-05, 19:38
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