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| lblai@blackburn.edu (Louis Blair) wrote in message
news:<f8f5e7b4.0409251842.652efe0@posting.google.com>...
quote:
> Nick used the words:
Actually, Nick wrote as a *question*:
"Such as the continuing battles between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke?"
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> I wrote:
Then I wrote (which Louis Blair has snipped now):
"Then I regret it that any innocent readers could have obtained the
'somewhat misleading' impression that there were *any* 'continuing battles
between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke'. (Would Tim Hanke like to confirm that?)"
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>
> Nick wrote:
>
> Nothing I wrote above has anything to do with memory.
My remark about 'the expected memory limit' was a joke.
quote:
> Nick wrote:
Please note that I did *not* write of those battles as 'continuous'.
Here's a definition of 'continuing' given by Dictionary.com (citing
the 'American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language' Fourth Edition):
"1: To go on with a particular action or in a particular condition; persist.
2: To exist over a prolonged period; last.
3: To remain in the same state, capacity or place: (example snipped)
4: To go on after an interruption; resume: (example snipped)"
As I recall, it seems that the battles between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke
were accurately described by some of those definitions of 'continuing',
at least certainly by 2 and 4 (if not also some of the others).
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> "Sporadic" would seem to me to be a more appropriate
> word choice to describe the current situation.
*Only* the 'current situation' (as Louis Blair prefers to define 'current')?
I construed the 'battles between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke'
to represent the *complete history* of conflicts between them.
Here's a definition of 'sporadic' given by Dictionary.com (citing
the 'American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language' Fourth Edition):
"1: Occurring at irregular intervals; having no pattern or order in time.
2: Appearing singly or at widely scattered localities, as a plant or disease.
3: Isolated; unique. (example snipped)"
As I recall, it seems that the battles between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke
were not accurately described by definitions 2 and 3 of 'sporadic',
though they could be accurately described by definition 1.
Hence, it would seem to me that the battles between Louis Blair and Tim Hanke
(the complete history, not only the 'current situation') may be more accurately
described as 'continuing' (*not* as 'continuous') rather than as 'sporadic'.
But this point of English usage is not a momentous issue of contention for me.
May I suggest that Louis Blair consider 'intermittent'?
--Nick
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