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Subject:Latin vs. Germanic From:Lisa Ann Miller <Lisa_Ann_Miller -at- MASTERCARD -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 31 Jul 1997 17:08:32 -0500
Alexia Prendergast wrote:
"I'm a select/choose person. I hardly ever use the mouse in
place of keyboard shortcuts. "Click" rubs me the wrong way...
it seems clumsy, like those big, fat pencils kids use to learn
to print."
I remember reading once that when someone wants to sound "schooled" they
use Latin words such as "manual." By contrast, a person trying to speak
more commonly would choose "book." Alexia's argument sounds similar. I
would equate "click" with the more German-gutteral pronunciations and
choose ("select" doesn't really work in my example, I know) with the softer
Latin.
Does anyone on the list remember reading/hearing this too? I wonder what
other words we use fall into this same category. When should we choose one
over the other?
Still thinking....
Lisa Miller
Sr. Technical Writer
MasterCard International
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