| Karl: I like the word action. I do see some validity to what you are trying to express. Upon reflection, the "strike out" example offers some insights. When someone uses the _expression_ outside of baseball, his "use" leaves a "trace" from the point of origin. Much like the trace we represent in language structure trees. The reason the _expression_ works is that in the mind of the speaker the baseball analogy holds true. This to me is a "synchronic" observation. The speaker assumes the listener shares the impact of the baseball analogy. Now, if at some point in the future, we stop playing baseball in the U.S., then the _expression_ "strike out" will have a "diachronic" trace. At that point native speakers who use the _expression_ will not be aware that it is a baseball term. It will be a full-blown idiom by then like "flash in the pan," or "living high on the hog," expressions whose origin contemporary users are ignorant. Jonathan E Mohler Baptist Bible Graduate School On May 11, 2013, at 9:04 PM, K Randolph wrote:
|
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.