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Subject:Annoying, no matter what the dictionary says From:"nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il" <nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Wed, 1 Mar 2006 04:06:40 -0500
I'm annoyed by the use of "multiple" to mean "several."
As far as I'm concerned something multiple is something
that serves or behaves like several similar things. A
pillbox with several compartments, for example, could
be considered a multiple pillbox. To have multiple
pillboxes at home would mean to have pillboxes like
that, not to have several pillboxes of which perhaps
none is multiple.
And a computer that breaks down all the time isn't
problematic. The question of whether to fix
or replace it might be problematic. Something
problematic is something that can't easily be
thought out to the point of yielding a definitive
answer. It's closer to "imponderable" than to
"troublesome."
And if your dictionary doesn't agree with me, then
I don't agree with your dictionary.
Mark L. Levinson
Herzliya, Israel
nosnivel -at- netvision -dot- net -dot- il
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