Hacker News Reader

Comment by enkid | Hacker News Reader

Edit: Language is a construct set by society. Merriam Webster states corporal punishment is the correct term, but corporeal is the word that means "of the body." Corporal used to mean of the body but is not used that way outside the specific term corporal punishment. Ignore the below.

Corporal is a rank in the military. Corporeal (pronounced something like core pore ree al) is having to do with a person's body, but isn't used in often outside of the phrase "corporeal punishment."

View on HN

"Corporeal punishment" is not a phrase. It's "corporal punishment".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal_punishment

> Edit: [linguistic relativism]

Their, they're and there are commonly misused, but that doesn't change what each means.

but that doesn't change what each means.

It does if it happens often enough, and if people accept it as such. See: "literally now literally means figuratively" and other such apparent madness.

Of course you, or I, or anyone else can refuse to accept such changes, but at the end of the day we really have nothing firmer to stand on than "I don't like it."

"I left my bag over they're" is simply wrong. Bury your [you're??] head in the sand if you want, it's still wrong.

"I left my bag over they're" is simply wrong.

For now, yes. 110 years from now? Who knows?

Personally I find myself chafing at some of changes that have become prevalent just in my lifetime, but I really don't want to be the old guy yelling "you kids get off my lawn" or whatever. So I grin and bear it and remind myself that "language changes, and it doesn't care what I think about it." :-)

Yeah, but that's just spelling, which in English is pretty fucked.

Both there/they're and corporal/corporeal seem to be [near] homophone swaps. It's an easy enough mistake to make, but still a mistake.

Corporal means “of the body” too. Though, as siblings comments have noted, in a less theological framing.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com