Friday, September 24, 2004
Provenince vs. provenance vs. provenience
Such an inauspicious start to a public literary presence. Seems I missed the 'e' in provenience for my blogger machine name, and ended up with neither provenance or provenience. Oh well, we live with what we get. Maybe 'provenince' will become a new alteration of provenance.
I see that as how language evolves. We make mistakes. We like them. We stick to them long enough so that eventually others pick them up. If a cascade happens, we have a new derivitive which is the original alteration. No wonder literate folk sometimes frown on this. It represents not only acceptance, but eembracement of failure. Not bad though, some of the greatest advancements have come from spectacular failures.
I see that as how language evolves. We make mistakes. We like them. We stick to them long enough so that eventually others pick them up. If a cascade happens, we have a new derivitive which is the original alteration. No wonder literate folk sometimes frown on this. It represents not only acceptance, but eembracement of failure. Not bad though, some of the greatest advancements have come from spectacular failures.
