Subject: [Tweeters] words, words, words
Date: Apr 28 12:21:11 2009
From: Jon Leland - jon_leland at yahoo.com


Burt, et al:
?
Not to be contrarian to what appears to be popular opinion, but "site" can also be used as a verb (synonym of locate).? It seems to me that its use could be considered appropriate in the tweeting context, when locating a bird at a specific location.
?
Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary references the following definition:
?
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/site[2]
?
Main Entry:
2site
Function:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
sit?ed; sit?ing
Date:
15th century
: to place on a site or in position : locate
?
?
Warmest Regards,
Jon?Leland
Seattle, WA

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Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:24:12 -0700
From: "Guttman,Burton" <GuttmanB at evergreen.edu>
Subject: [Tweeters] words, words, words
To: <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID:
??? <FB5E1621DB200144B9B4868129BF0BD4052F6D at birch.evergreen.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Oh, I know I'm gonna get my ass rapped for this, and people are going to call me a snob and a jerk and all kinds of other things.? But, friends, I think of the good folks on Tweeters as intelligent and well-educated, and mistakes in language are beneath them.? And, also, I can't stand to let English go down the drain any more than it has already.

Friends and colleagues, there are three homophones in English that we must not keep confusing:
? ? ? 1.? sight:? as a verb, to see something; as a noun, something one has seen.? "I sighted a Merlin overhead."
? ? ? 2.? site:? as a noun, a certain place, such as the place where building stands; as a verb, to place something on a site, as, "We are going to site the memorial on this site."
? ? ? 3.? cite:? only a verb, meaning (1) to call on someone to appear, as before a court; (2) to quote or mention as an example or authority; (3) to mention formally for commendation or praise; or (4) to call to someone's attention.

Okay, go ahead and shoot.? But it's really distressing to have intelligent people tell us that they've "sited" an interesting bird.? If we don't maintain some standards for our language, pretty soon we'll have like people y'know like saying that they saw this like interesting bird.

Cheers,
Burt