[Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

[Mark Hussey]

“Too fussy” might be a euphemism for “able to use words correctly.” 

 

From: vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [mailto:vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Sarah M. Hall
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 6:40 AM
To: Stuart N. Clarke; woolf list
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

 

There was an interview on Radio 4 yesterday with a Scotsman who thinks that we are all too fussy about English grammar, and that phrases such as 'most beautifullest' are quite acceptable because Shakespeare used these constructions. The opposing view was that Shakespeare was writing poetry. Downward spiral?

 

 


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From: Stuart N. Clarke <stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>
To: woolf list <VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu> 
Sent: Thursday, 24 October 2013, 11:33
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

 

Of course, we all make mistakes, but there’s just no end to failures in copy-editing.

 

There’s something just not quite right about:

 

“This great church ... is crowned by the second largest Roman dome after St Peter’s.”

 

In his TV show, Dave Gorman pointed out the faux spectrum, as in something like “She has taken all the great tragic roles, from Ophelia to the Duchess of Malfi”.

 

Stuart

 

From: Jeremy Hawthorn <mailto:jeremy.hawthorn at ntnu.no>  

Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 11:17 AM

To: Stuart N. Clarke <mailto:stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com>  ; woolf list <mailto:VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>  

Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

 

And another one. In the last week I have seen "interred" used where "interned" was correct, and vice-versa. Thus people of Japanese descent were interred during WW2, and the body was interned after the funeral.

Jeremy H


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From: vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu [vwoolf-bounces at lists.service.ohio-state.edu] on behalf of Stuart N. Clarke [stuart.n.clarke at btinternet.com]
Sent: 24 October 2013 11:51
To: woolf list
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

The 2 words are quite different, but I admit that I have to concentrate when typing them to make sure I’ve chosen the right one!  I don’t think they have (yet?) become interchangeable.

 

Unlike “imply” and “infer”: in the Antipodes, even in scientific papers, the words are used interchangeably, although I was surprised to find the use as early as 1931, e.g.:

 

M. H. C., ‘The Scheme of Things’, NZ Evening Post, Vol. CXII, No. 112 (7 November 1931), 9: ‘“Oxbridge” … plainly infers [sic] Oxford’; http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d <http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19311107.2.40.1> &cl=search&d=EP19311107.2.40.1

 

Stuart

 

From: Sunjoo Lee <mailto:abgrund at naver.com>  

Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:38 AM

To: woolf list <mailto:VWOOLF at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>  

Subject: [Vwoolf] "principle" in place of "principal"

 

Hi, everyone,  

 

I have been a bit bugged by seeing "principle" when the word has to be "principal." 

I saw that happening in doctoral dissertations and (in a few cases) articles from well-known journals, or even books from good publishers. 

 

And this afternoon, from Heidegger's Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics (Indiana UP, 1997), I found: 

 

"Thus the knowledge of beings in general (Metaphysica Generalis) and the knowledge of its principle divisions (Metaphysica Specialis) become a "science established on the basis of mere reason."" (6). 

 

And now I wonder, has "principle" been accepted as an alternate spelling of "principal"? Only I haven't been aware of it? 

Dictionaries I use don't have such information. Has anyone else wondered about this? 

 

 

Sunjoo 


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