Writing English.

[Andrew Haley]

On 11/24/2013 04:53 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
> 
> On Nov 24, 2013, at 6:15 AM, Andrew Haley <aph at redhat.com> wrote:
> 
>> On 11/23/2013 03:55 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
>>>
>>> On Nov 23, 2013, at 3:47 AM, Andrew Haley <aph at redhat.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 11/22/2013 09:44 PM, Chris Murphy wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Nope, you're wrong. Find a copy of New Oxford American Dictionary
>>>>> and look up the words and usage. I seriously doubt even Oxford
>>>>> English makes such a big distinction between two words that share
>>>>> the same etymology and have no good reason for meaning different
>>>>> things.
>>>>
>>>> I doubt it.  Fowler is pretty definite:
>>>>
>>>> "Alternative (offering a choice) had formerly also the sense now
>>>> belonging only to alternate (by turns); now that the differentiation
>>>> is complete, confusion is even less excusable than between definite
>>>> and definitive."
>>>
>>> Sounds like someone at Fowler has a bone to pick, but they've gone
>>> out too far on a limb. There is a clear differentiation between
>>> definite and definitive that most anyone can easily understand, yet
>>> they're proposing there's an even greater distinction between
>>> alternate and alternative that no one would care about.
>>
>> Well, Fowler's Modern English Usage is Oxford Dictionaries' reference
>> work on English usage, so I can say without any reasonable fear of
>> successful contradiction that when you "seriously doubt even
>> Oxford English makes such a big distinction" you surely are wrong.
> 
> You're late to the party, it's already been brought up, so I really
> don't see your point at all.

Your claim was not about American English, but about Oxford English.
They are not the same thing.  You are free to disagree with Fowler,
but it is the closest thing there is to an authority on Oxford
English.  I do not dispute the claim that "alternate" and
"alternative" are synonymous in American English, but you were
mistaken when you wrote:

>>>>> I seriously doubt even Oxford English makes such a big
>>>>> distinction between two words that share the same etymology and
>>>>> have no good reason for meaning different things.

Fowler does indeed make a big distinction.  That is all.

Andrew.