--- "Pascal A. Kramm" <pkramm@...> wrote:
> On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 22:27:07 +1100, Tristan McLeay
> <conlang@...> wrote:
>
> >On 31 Jan 2005, at 9.51 am, Doug Dee wrote:
> >
> >> In a message dated 1/30/2005 5:23:29 PM Eastern
> Standard Time,
> >> ataltanie@OCEANFREE.NET writes:
<snip>
> >>>> "Champignon" is a specific type of mushroom,
<snip>
> >> According to The American Heritage Dictionary,
> "champignon" _is_ an
> >> English word, meaning "An edible mushroom,
> especially the much
> >> cultivated species _Agaricus Bisporus_"
<snip>
>
> >> Obviously, it's a borrowing from French, but that
> doesn't stop it from
> >> being an English word.
>
> Even though it originated from French, it is by now
> quite commonly used in
> English (and german as well, and in many other
> languages as well), generally
> referring to "Agraricus Bisporus".
<snip>
>
> Well, this debate about "English word or not" is
> really splitting hairs...
> regardless if it's a French word or not, it's
> commonly used nowadays.
I can' help but wonder at what point a word is
considered to be "commonly used." I am 60 years old,
born and raised in the USA, reasonably well educated
(postgraduate degree in comp. sci.) and an avid
reader.
This thread is the FISRT time I have ever been exposed
to the word "champignon". I have never used it or
encountered it in writing or in conversation. How
widely used can it be if it has stayed so well hidden
from me?
--gary