Flag at half mast used to mean something

[Peremensoe]

@Labrador_Deceiver

Common usage always trumps the dictionary.

You don’t mean that. Think about it–that would mean the loss of countless useful words.

[BigT]

@spark240

You don’t mean that. Think about it–that would mean the loss of countless useful words.

No, it wouldn’t. If they are useful, they are currently being used.

The problem though is that dictionaries are descriptions of what words are in common use. Some contain obsolete words, but a good dictionary will label them as such. What he’s really arguing is that the dictionary is out of date.

Real prescriptivists don’t take any dictionary as gospel.

[Scuba_Ben]

@j66

Back to appropriate management of the U.S. flag:

Does anyone know how one person is supposed to take down and fold a flag?

I know how!

[Misnomer]

@Spavined_Gelding

For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. It is only at half-mast if there is a mast, like on a boat.

No one used the term “half mast” between the post where ascenray pointed this out and your post. How about instead of getting all worked up over a “bunch of freaking illiterates” you work on your reading comprehension skills?

[Peremensoe]

@BigT

If they are useful, they are currently being used.

What if they are widely misused as synonyms for other words that previously had different meanings? When the distinction is lost, the utility is lost, even if people continue to make the sounds with their mouths.

That’s as far as I’ll take this here.

[j666]

@Scuba_Ben

I know how!

Wow, that’s great! Very impressive. I’m so proud of and happy for you.
*… tap …

… tap tap tap …

… TAP …

… TAP TAP …*

Well?

Are you going to tell me?

[SciFiSam]

The flag above Buckingham Palace is only flown at half-mast/staff/IDon’tCare when the reigning monarch dies.

Which is why it didn’t occur to Queen Liz to lower the flag when her ex-daughter-in-law died, but the Dianamania at the time forced her to concede.

[Spavined_Gelding]

@Misnomer

No one used the term “half mast” between the post where ascenray pointed this out and your post. How about instead of getting all worked up over a “bunch of freaking illiterates” you work on your reading comprehension skills?

How about you get a life, Sport?

[Derleth]

@BigT

Real prescriptivists don’t take any dictionary as gospel.

Your ‘real prescriptivists’ sound like descriptivists to me.

@spark240

What if they are widely misused as synonyms for other words that previously had different meanings? When the distinction is lost, the utility is lost, even if people continue to make the sounds with their mouths.

If it was that important to maintain the differentiation between concepts, the distinct words would survive. For example, in English ‘blue’ and ‘green’ are not in any danger of becoming synonyms, regardless of the Sinitic influences that brought us idioms like ‘long time no see’: Our culture regards them as distinct, and regards the distinction as important, so the words remain separate.

Contrast this ‘half-staff’/‘half-mast’ nonsense, which is only relevant to a small number of people who exert very little influence on the language.

[Alessan]

@Sailboat

Hijack – one of the worst examples is “supermodel.” There used to be plenty of models, and only the uber ones whose names became household words and who eventually got to call the shots in their own careers or run media and fashion empires were called supermodels to distinguish them from the rest.

now every single time a model’s career is mentioned, somebody or everybody calls her a supermodel, even when it turns out it’s some 17-year-old foreign chick who’s a complete unknown and was hired a month ago, and no one offstage has ever heard her speak.

Supermodel isn’t a profession any more than “all-star” is or “Ph. D.” is. It’s a superlative form of the word model.

Or for that matter, “hero.” Not everyone who risks their life is a hero - most of the time, they’re just doing their duty. Rule of thumb: if the other soldiers (or cops, or firefighters) serving with you think you’re a hero, *then *you’re a hero..

[Ellen_Cherry]

Everyone please cool it re: half-staff or half-mast. It’s been beaten to death and everyone’s prickly over it. We need not discuss it any more, nor do we need to snipe about it.

Ellen Cherry
IMHO Moderator

[kayaker]

@Diogenes_the_Cynic

A similar example: “porn star.”

Appearing in over 2000 adult films during the past two decades, Cynthia was last night recognized for her body of work by the Adult Film Actors Guild. No longer just a porn actress, she can now proudly claim the title of porn star.

[Snnipe_70E]

@Ellen_Cherry

Everyone please cool it re: half-staff or half-mast. It’s been beaten to death and everyone’s prickly over it. We need not discuss it any more, nor do we need to snipe about it.

Ellen Cherry
IMHO Moderator

Hey! Snipe is not a bad word

[chacoguy]

@j66

Are you going to tell me?

You rest it on your shoulder as you fold it into that classic, triangular shape.

[Susanann]

@Sitnam

When I was a child if I saw a flag at half mast my first question was, “which ex president died?”
Now I just wonder who’s cat has the sniffles.
I suspect it’s some tribute to the soldiers losing their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, but when did this great honor get watered down so much?

Yeah, I remember WW2 when our boys were dying somewhere every day of that war, yet we generally let all of our flags fly high unless there was a very “unusual” or out-of-the-ordinary death that needed special recognition.

[MsWhatsit]

@Susanann

Yeah, I remember WW2 when our boys were dying somewhere every day of that war, yet we generally let all of our flags fly high unless there was a very “unusual” or out-of-the-ordinary death that needed special recognition.

Sensible. Like, say, the last remaining veteran of one of our great wars.

[j666]

@chacoguy

You rest it on your shoulder as you fold it into that classic, triangular shape.

Oh. I think I can see that. But how does one person fold it in quarters length-wise? Do you cheat and fold it in half first so it doesn’t drag on the ground?

[Ferret_Herder]

@Susanann

Yeah, I remember WW2 when our boys were dying somewhere every day of that war, yet we generally let all of our flags fly high unless there was a very “unusual” or out-of-the-ordinary death that needed special recognition.

That was a very out-of-the-ordinary death, though, as pointed out. That day and flag-lowering honored the passing of the last WWI vet of the US.

[Cat_Whisperer]

@Alessan

Or for that matter, “hero.” Not everyone who risks their life is a hero - most of the time, they’re just doing their duty. Rule of thumb: if the other soldiers (or cops, or firefighters) serving with you think you’re a hero, *then *you’re a hero..

Oh yeah, that’s another good one - I like Stephen Colbert’s lampooning of the way everyone who gets their taxes done on time is a hero these days.

[TexasDriver]

@fubbleskag

Oh for christ’s sake, enough with this pedantry already.

Half-mast - definition of half-mast by The Free Dictionary

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/half-mast

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-mast

So “half-pole” would be correct, too.