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Re: The Birds and the Bees of Gender

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Tuesday, March 30, 1999, 19:06
Brian Betty wrote:
> This is > different from words like 'mob [of kangaroo]' because there can be mobs, > clutches, etc. but not peoples, at least not in that abstract sense. You do > hear 'peoples of the world,' but that is the use of the word people similar > to mob or clutch, a group of x animals. This latter use may be as old or > older than the nonplural collective form;
The later is the original meaning of the word, ultimately derived from Latin _populus_, thru French. -- "It's bad manners to talk about ropes in the house of a man whose father was hanged." - Irish proverb http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/X-Files http://members.tripod.com/~Nik_Taylor/Books.html ICQ: 18656696 AIM Screen-name: NikTailor