Antennae vs. antennas

[Jim Taylor]

Folks:
Let's start a new thread - proboscis v. haustellum.

Jim Taylor
-----Original Message-----
From: Liz Day <lday at iquest.net>
Cc: leps-l at lists.yale.edu <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: Thursday, October 22, 1998 1:08 AM
Subject: Re: Antennae vs. antennas


>
>
>> A good teacher will know how to teach all three and yet not allienate
>> that "third" group.  I think that Phil's attitude (that dumbing down is
>> inherently bad) is right.
>
>I agree - but I don't see a preference for non-technical language as
>dumbing down.  In fact I see that term as a bit insulting myself...  I
>see it as a sign of good, clear speech or writing, the way I would talk to
>almost any group of adults (except those professionally versed in the
>particular topic).
>
>However, a friend on this list said that one needs to use a different
>presentation approach with different audiences, rather than change the
>terminology.  So I may be confounding the two.
>
>I do worry that people (especially kids) think that by knowing the name
>of something, they know all about it.
>
>Past experience with scientific language that effectively blocked what I
>was trying to find out about has made me a bit rabid on the subject.
>
>Liz Day
>