Re: Intergermansk - Pizza packaging text :D
| From: | Tristan McLeay <conlang@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Monday, January 31, 2005, 11:28 |
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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:
>
>>> "Mushroom" is the general term, just like e.g. "tree" is general.
>>> "Champignon" is a specific type of mushroom, just like an "oak" is a
>>> specific type of tree.
>
>> Is this English we're talking about here...? If so, it's not right;
>> "champignon" is not an English word.
>
> According to The American Heritage Dictionary, "champignon" _is_ an
> English
> word, meaning "An edible mushroom, especially the much cultivated
> species
> _Agaricus Bisporus_"
Hmm... that's another odd one, AFAIK, all mushrooms are edible, because
if they're not, they're not mushrooms. Something seems fishy in the
land of fungi.
> Obviously, it's a borrowing from French, but that doesn't stop it from
> being
> an English word.
I think I would say 'doesn't stop it from being used in English'. '(to)
use' is clearly an English word, not because it comes from Old English
(it doesn't) but because there's no debate about whether it's an
English word. But about half the native speakers on this list seem to
equate champignon more with French than with English.
--
Tristan.
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