From BRYAN@wvnvm.wvnet.edu Tue Nov 29 14:24:02 1994 Return-Path: Received: from WVNVM.WVNET.EDU by life.ai.mit.edu (4.1/AI-4.10) for /com/archive/cube-lovers id AA04706; Tue, 29 Nov 94 14:24:02 EST Message-Id: <9411291924.AA04706@life.ai.mit.edu> Received: from WVNVM.WVNET.EDU by WVNVM.WVNET.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2) with BSMTP id 5515; Tue, 29 Nov 94 14:00:58 EST Received: from WVNVM.WVNET.EDU (NJE origin BRYAN@WVNVM) by WVNVM.WVNET.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 7319; Tue, 29 Nov 1994 14:00:59 -0500 X-Acknowledge-To: Date: Tue, 29 Nov 1994 14:00:58 -0500 (EST) From: "Jerry Bryan" To: "Cube Lovers List" Subject: Antipodes Revisited I received the following from David Singmaster, forwarded with permission. > I thought I remembered that antipodes is actually singular! In fact >it is singular in Greek but English recognizes both antipodes and antipode. >But the Antipodes means the region on the earth opposite to where one is and >is construed as a plural though its sense is singular. So antipodes is >actually not too bad a word for all the points which are maximally far away >and antipode should be reserved for the case where there is a unique >maximally distant point. Prior to my first post on this subject, I consulted a mathematics dictionary. This time, I consulted an English dictionary as well. It indicates that "antipode" is a back formation from the Greek "antipodes", and that the pronunciation is anglicized as "AN-ti-POHD". There is a separate entry for "antipodes". (It seems unusual for a dictionary to have a separate entry for a plural form.) The plural pronunciation retains its Greek form as "an-TIP-uh-DEEZ". = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Robert G. Bryan (Jerry Bryan) (304) 293-5192 Associate Director, WVNET illegitimati (304) 293-5540 fax 837 Chestnut Ridge Road nil BRYAN@WVNVM Morgantown, WV 26505 carborundum BRYAN@WVNVM.WVNET.EDU