>Now for a *real* question (so I don't just clutter up everyone's
>Sunday night mailbox): I have a friend (and co-listowner) who insists
>on referring to our list as "this listserv."  This bothers and I
>vaguely recall this being mentioned here recently (I meant to write
>"this bothers me").  Does anyone have a good, linguistically sound
>reason for discouraging this habit?  It makes about as much sense
>to me as saying "this WordPerfect" when speaking about a document
>produced on WP.  Am I being overly sensitive?
 
The French Academy has been struggling with this question for centuries ;-)
I think it really doesn't matter what is right or what is linguistically
sound.  People will talk the way people around them talk, and for some
reason "listserv" (with or without an "e") seems to have become the word
that most people use for "electronic mail distribution list".  Language
quickly escapes from the control of the elite as expressions become
popular.  Try getting most Americans to use "whom" or the subjunctive
("I wish I were....").  It bothers me too but I doubt that anything can
be done.  I guess the reason is that "list" already has other meanings
so "listserv" has has extended its semantic field to differentiate
electronic distribution lists from other lists.
 
What to do?  Having a penchant for descriptive rather than prescriptive
linguistics, I still use "whom" and the subjunctive myself, but I don't
waste my time correcting others ;-)
 
Bob
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 Robert Ponterio                     | [log in to unmask]
 co-manager of FLTEACH               | State Univ. of New York Cortland
 Foreign Language Teaching Forum     |_________________________________
 http://www.cortland.edu/www/flteach/