"Nostrobino" wrote:
"Floyd Davidson" wrote:
The "correct" use has evolved.

No, it has not. As shown repeatedly, it is still in current use and means
the same thing it always meant.

You continue to make logically invalid statements that are
patently absurd.

There is no *one single meaning* for the word "prime". The fact
that there are half a dozen or more previously used and still
commonly used meanings does not even begin to negate the simple
*fact* that you continue to try denying: it has evolved a *new*
meaning, which is now in relatively common use.

That's not evolution. That's a misunderstanding which through repetition
(mostly thanks to Usenet) has unfortunately become fairly common.

Well, you can say it isn't evolution from now until the sun
freezes over, but just as you have misused other words, you are
misusing that one too.

*It is evolution.*

There have been many other terms which through misunderstanding and
repetition became frequently misused. In fact, several *lists* of misused
words have been compiled over the years.

When the new usage becomes common enough that virtually everyone
understands what the meaning is, and people use it because it is
understood... that *is* evolution whether you like it or not.

Common use makes it "correct", and indicates the language has
evolved.

No. The popularity of some misusage does not automatically make it correct,
as you seem to believe. Look in any authoritative dictionary that has usage
notes, and you will find misusages that have enjoyed great popularity for
many, many years and are just still as wrong as they ever were.

So just show us examples... ;-)

In fact the dictionary is chock full of examples of words that
now have different meanings than they originally did. Dang near
every word in an English dictionary fits that description! Some
have even come to mean exactly the opposite of what they once
did.

--
FloydL. Davidson http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska)