by ADPUF <flyhunter@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Jul 3, 2008 at 01:01 AM
22:54, martedì 1 luglio 2008, Einde O'Callaghan:
> ADPUF wrote:
>> 00:37, martedì 1 luglio 2008, John Briggs:
>>>
>>> "Alternate" is only correctly used for two choices.
>>
>> Really?
>>
> This is my reading of the dictionary definition form teh
> Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
>
> 1: occurring or succeeding by turns <a day of alternate
> sun****ne and rain
> 2 a: arranged first on one side and then on the other at
> different levels or points along an axial line <alternate
> leaves> — compare opposite b: arranged one above or
> alongside the other
> 3: every other : every second <he works on alternate days>
> 4: constituting an alternative <took the alternate route home>
> 5: alternative
Surely (2a) implies "two": the sides formed by a symmetry plane.
However I still think that the concept of "alternative" can be
extended to more than two choices.
There are plants where leaves alternate on more than two
positions.
--
°¿°
