RETRACTION - DAVE BARRETT & HIGH POINT SCIENTIFIC

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"Paul Lawler" wrote in message
nk.net...
"Mike Ruskai" wrote in message
.earthlink.net...
On 18 Jun 2004 13:03:14 GMT, Rod Mollise wrote:

I hope you realize the enormity of what

Sorry to nitpick (well, not really), but every now and then, this one
bugs
me so much I have to comment.

Enormity means depraved abnormality. It is not a synonym for
enormousness, despite their (obvious) common etymological roots.

Dunno... my dictionary says:

1. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or
outrageousness.
2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage.

I would posit that even though engaging in a bit of hyperbole, Rod was
using
definition 2.


I think Rod was right on the money...

Enormity means depraved abnormality.

Hi Mike:

Sorry to nitpick right back, old buddy ;-)

Websters says (I'm too lazy to find a magnifying glass and look it up in my two
volume OED):

"Enormity, quality of being enormous; great wickedness; atrocity."

The first definition is much more common in American-English usage. That is, it
_is_ a synonym for "enormousness." Your definition is correct, of course, if
less common.

Actually, in this case, both definitions are applicable.

Yes, I was an English major in an earlier life. ;-)
Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

Enormity means depraved abnormality.

Hi Mike:

Sorry to nitpick right back, old buddy ;-)

Websters says (I'm too lazy to find a magnifying glass and look it up in my two
volume OED):

"Enormity, quality of being enormous; great wickedness; atrocity."

The first definition is much more common in American-English usage. That is, it
_is_ a synonym for "enormousness." Your definition is correct, of course, if
less common.

Actually, in this case, both definitions are applicable.

Yes, I was an English major in an earlier life. ;-)
Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

I think Rod was right on the money...


Hi Jan:

I hate to think so... I'm hoping that the person in question is genuinely
sorry, and that he's just displaying some understandable definsiveness after
being called on the carpet, so to speak.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

I think Rod was right on the money...


Hi Jan:

I hate to think so... I'm hoping that the person in question is genuinely
sorry, and that he's just displaying some understandable definsiveness after
being called on the carpet, so to speak.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

I think Rod was right on the money...


BTW, guys, depending on the source you use, the "immense/huge" definition of
the word may not be first. Meriam Webster, which I just looked at, places it
third behind "depraved," etc. The Webster I checked first was the one in the
single volume with Roget's. Maybe _Irving_ Webster. ;-)



Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

I think Rod was right on the money...


BTW, guys, depending on the source you use, the "immense/huge" definition of
the word may not be first. Meriam Webster, which I just looked at, places it
third behind "depraved," etc. The Webster I checked first was the one in the
single volume with Roget's. Maybe _Irving_ Webster. ;-)



Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
Like SCTs and MCTs?
Check-out sct-user, the mailing list for CAT fanciers!
Goto http://members.aol.com/RMOLLISE/index.html

"Rob Hunt" wrote in message
m...
It was me who posted the note about Dave Barrett and High Point to
this board and I had my facts wrong.

After a few very strange phone calls and hearing from one of our customers
about the original post we did receive a call from Mr. Robert Hunt. He
apologized to Dave Barrett and myself. I will have to admit that Dave was
certainly more gracious accepting his apology than I was. Mr. Hunt has
retracted his statement and has done the best he can to correct his mistake.
It would probably be best to let this thread die to minimize the appearance
of this header during searches. I can only hope when one does come across
this thread, they read the entire text to get "the rest of the story".



We sincerely hope his friend will be able to recover the funds he has lost.
With a close community such as this, it is a shame his friend is even in
this situation. While not condoning Mr. Hunt's actions or methods we can
understand his desire to help a friend.





Thank You,

Robert J. Dugan Sr.

President, High Point Scientific, Inc.

"Rob Hunt" wrote in message
m...
It was me who posted the note about Dave Barrett and High Point to
this board and I had my facts wrong.

After a few very strange phone calls and hearing from one of our customers
about the original post we did receive a call from Mr. Robert Hunt. He
apologized to Dave Barrett and myself. I will have to admit that Dave was
certainly more gracious accepting his apology than I was. Mr. Hunt has
retracted his statement and has done the best he can to correct his mistake.
It would probably be best to let this thread die to minimize the appearance
of this header during searches. I can only hope when one does come across
this thread, they read the entire text to get "the rest of the story".



We sincerely hope his friend will be able to recover the funds he has lost.
With a close community such as this, it is a shame his friend is even in
this situation. While not condoning Mr. Hunt's actions or methods we can
understand his desire to help a friend.





Thank You,

Robert J. Dugan Sr.

President, High Point Scientific, Inc.

On 19 Jun 2004 13:54:50 GMT, Rod Mollise wrote:



Enormity means depraved abnormality.

Hi Mike:

Sorry to nitpick right back, old buddy ;-)

Websters says (I'm too lazy to find a magnifying glass and look it up in my two
volume OED):

"Enormity, quality of being enormous; great wickedness; atrocity."

The first definition is much more common in American-English usage. That is, it
_is_ a synonym for "enormousness." Your definition is correct, of course, if
less common.

Actually, in this case, both definitions are applicable.

Yes, I was an English major in an earlier life. ;-)

Some dictionaries take the position of setting usage. Some take the
position of reflecting usage. OED is more towards the former, and Webster
far past the end of the latter.

It's really only recently that writers and reporters have started using
enormity to mean enormousness. Websters is merely reflecting that change.
I have an unabridged 1983 revision Websters which lists large size as
definition #3, qualifying it as rare.

Check this out for a small discussion about the recent incorrect usage of
enormity (though I agree that you're particular usage here easily
qualifies for the standard definition g):

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=enormity

My other pet language peeve is moot. Moot means arguable. People say an
issue is moot when they mean precisely the opposite - that it's not worth
arguing about anymore.

I don't object words acquiring new meanings over time, but I think it's
silly to change them sharply rather than gradually (or completely reverse
the meaning, as with moot).


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- Mike

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