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zfriloux	Post subject: Linguists can't count? Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2003 1:43 pm
Joined: Tue Aug 06, 2002 12:01 am Posts: 37 Location: Colorado	(AP) - A long-winded phrase whose meaning reflects a nation's worry about war with Iraq has been voted 2002's word of the year. The American Dialect Society selected "weapons of mass destruction" as its annual choice at a meeting in Atlanta.<p>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ It's been a while since I took math, but I think that's four words.
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Bumfketeer	Post subject: Re: Linguists can't count? Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2003 2:19 pm
Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2002 1:01 am Posts: 3557 Location: Cusp of retirement, grave or both	I'm on Blanp's side with this one. This "word" bothers me more and more each time I see it.<p>A hand grenade is a weapon of mass destruction if thrown into a room full of toddlers, if you define "mass destruction" as being loss or maiming of a number of humans. What is the cutoff number for a weapon of destruction (in itself a redundancy) becoming one of "mass" destruction?<p>It's an idiotic phrase.
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