Re: OT: French/English etymology question: "sauf"/"save"

On Fri, Dec 05, 2003 at 01:53:43PM -0500, Douglas Koller, Latin & French wrote:
> >Yeah, and it's not outdated at all. All save one;
> >I'll do it, saving that it's legal; contents
> >sterile saving that packet is uncompromised.
>
> Yeah, but I still use it, which hurls it into an Oscar Wildean
> antiquity of total undudeness.
I assure you, sir, that my perception of what is and is not outdated
in English is based neither upon your usage, nor that of Mr. Wilde, nor
any amount of non-dudity.  :)  It is, rather, based upon what I hear
and read in modern (primarily local) speech and (primarily American)
composition.  That particular use of "save" is rare within those contexts,
hence my conclusion that it was "somewhat" outdated.  Please note that I
did not claim it was obsolete or archaic.  However, perhaps it is not
outdated so much as consigned to a more formal register than once it was.

-Mark

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