[Taxacom] species names for sale.

[Curtis Clark]

On 2007-01-26 06:56, Thomas G. Lammers wrote:
> I think that's a 
> specious argument, and frankly rather condescending. 

How so, when I hold myself to the same standard?

> Again, I am not aware 
> of any rule that forbids the existence of synonyms in language.  Even in 
> scientific writing, it is often desirable  to avoid using the same word 
> over and over and over.  Being able to describe a group as speciose 
> sometimes and species-rich at others is useful, to avoid unnecessary 
> repetition. 

This I find specious. It would be the same as using "monophyletic" and 
"holophyletic" in the same article, just for variety, and making the 
reader wonder whether they are synonyms or not (and of course they might 
or might not be, depending on who's writing). English is a wonderfully 
rich language for most uses, but it seems to me that scientists have to 
be more precise.

When I googled for references for my original post, I entered

    speciose specious

and returned a number of articles where both terms were used to mean 
"species-rich". I assume this was the result of inconsistent compliance 
with the suggestions of spell-checkers, but it certainly did avoid using 
the same word over and over.

> Furthermore, I think there is something to be said for the 
> functional simplicity of a single word over a hyphenated compound.

In general, I agree, but then "r u" is easier to write than "are you", 
and "homoplasic" is a letter shorter than "homoplastic"

> And in any event, coining a new word or pressing an obsolete one into a new 
> usage is nowhere near as confusing and disruptive as intentionally 
> redefining a well known and widely used term like "monophyly" ...

Well-known and widely used, perhaps. Well-defined, I would contest. I 
remember trying to explain G. G. Simpson's definition to undergraduates...


-- 
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Web Coordinator, Cal Poly Pomona                 +1 909 979 6371
Professor, Biological Sciences