[Leica] Forte and Forte: Was, Even us natives don't write English good"

[s.jessurun95 at chello.nl (animal)]

Now you have me confused i do know what complementary means but have no clue
what one word you mean.
Would you explain?
Simon Jessurun
amsterdam
the netherlands
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeffery Smith" <jls@runbox.com>
To: "'Leica Users Group'" <lug@leica-users.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 11:13 PM
Subject: RE: [Leica] Forte and Forte: Was,Even us natives don't write
English good"


> Which is what I indicated earlier...if people do it incorrectly long
> enough, then the norm becomes the rule even if it is incorrect. And I'm
> not using "old printed dictionaries". I learned it correctly 40 years
> ago.
>
> But I am a conservative in language, and would like things to remain as
> they were, not as they are mispronounced. I even shun removing the final
> comma from phrases such as "Larry, Moe, and Curly" as deleting that
> second comma always means that I have to go back and reread the sentence
> again.
>
> I suppose that, before I expire, I will be reading about complimentary
> DNA. I suppose that means that adenine and guanine will be saying nice
> things about thymine and cytosine, or that you can have the DNA free,
> compliments of the house. But as long as people don't know what
> complementary means, I guess we should go with the one word they do
> understand.
>
> Jeffery Smith
> New Orleans, LA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jls=runbox.com@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Jonathan Borden
> Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2004 3:59 PM
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Forte and Forte: Was,Even us natives don't write
> English good"
>
>
> Marc James Small wrote:
>
> > At 12:57 PM 5/9/04 -0500, Jeffery Smith wrote:
> >> I'm more comfortable with the music version pronunciation. If I say
> >> "fort", someone invariably corrects me.
> >>
> >
> > These are two different words, though both descend from the Latin root
> > "forti" meaning strong or forceful.
> >
> > One word comes through the Italian and means "with great force";  it
> is
> > used as a musical directive and is pronounced "for-tey" in USian
> > English.
> >
> > The other comes through Medi?val French and is a survival of the
> > earlier
> > "campus forte" or "situs forte", both meaning a fortified location.
> > Our
> > Modern English word "fort" derives from this word.  And, yes, when
> > "forte"
> > is used to describe an outstanding quality or a strong qualification,
> > it is
> > pronounced, "fort" in Modern English.
>
>
> In Modern American English, at least among the people I hang around
> with, an outstanding quality or strong qualification is referred to as
> a "forte" and pronounced "fort-ay"
>
> Let's see, searching Wordnet we get:
> http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/webwn?stage=1&word=forte
>
> >
> > Check out any decent dictionary, from the modern versions of Webster
> > or the
> > American Heritage Dictionary or, of course, the Oxford English
> > Dictionary.
>
> The way folks speak in Princeton N.J. is fine by me. I hark from the
> parts William Webster harks from, and if he were alive today I'm sure
> he'd be using this sense of the term "forte".
>
> In any case any linguist worth his or her salt would accept that when
> common usage in a community differs from some 'old printed dictionary,
> that its time to update the dictionary. Language is alive, and changes
> with time.
>
> Now let's look at what the American Heritage Dictionary says ... I
> found this:
>
> http://www.bartleby.com/64/C007/086.html
>
> >
> > So, Jefferey, allow them to correct you.  Then you can correct THEM.
>
> Well you can correct, but that would be contrary to the most common
> usage by contemporary Americans. Since the reason we have language is
> to communicate, I think its best to pronounce things the way they make
> the most sense to the most people. see
> http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=forte On the other hand:
> http://www.vocabula.com/archives/VRJune00.htm
>
> Jonathan
>
>
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