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Astarion be like (lemmy.world)
submitted 9 months ago by Stamets@lemmy.world to c/tumblr@lemmy.world
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[-] DrBob@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 months ago

This is incorrect - it's a writer's fantasy to make a character look like a pedant.

From Merriam-Webster...

Coffin: a box or chest for burying a corpse. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coffin

Casket: 1: a small chest or box (as for jewels) 2: a usually fancy coffin https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/casket

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

But if you google it, you get a bunch of results from funeral homes saying the same thing this post is. I'd say the terminology used in actual practice carries more weight than Merriam-Webster.

[-] NegativeInf@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

The funny thing is, Merriam-Webster changed the way they define words in the 50s or 60s to include the way people use them in actual language rather than a static, unchanging, rigid definition. It's why you can now find definitions for things like irregardless and ain't in MW.

[-] DrBob@lemmy.ca -3 points 9 months ago

If I google it aliens built the pyramids as well. I think someone got the other definitions into wikipedia so it has the appearance of Truth. Or maybe wikipedia is reality now.

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

These are actual businesses that do this for a living saying that, not wikipedia.

[-] DrBob@lemmy.ca -2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I'm not sure random businesses are the authority on the English language. If you don't like Webster then go to Oxford: casket,n. A coffin. U.S. 1849

As a regionalism it doesn't even appear under the main entries of casket.

The main entry is the same use as Webster's 1: above, a small container for valuable items.

this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2024
439 points (97.6% liked)

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