Calendar, calender, colander - are they all correct words?

Sep 13 05:56 UTC 1993

Agora Item #1. the "Welcome to Summer" item lost its compass over
the weekend and drifted into the realm of language. Before we get
to fall, I have copied just the language-drifted portions here.

#103 of 116: by Valerie Mates (popcorn) on Sat, Sep 11, 1993 (21:54):
[stuff deleted}
Once in a while you run across a calender where the
 calender-maker was very careful to make all the weather in the pictures
 match what's usually really happening in the world at that time, but
 the calender-maker lived someplace far across the country, and the
 weather for the different months is all "wrong", with the leaves turning
 color a month too early or late.

 (how *do* you spell "calender"?)

#105 of 116: by Steve Weiss (srw) on Sun, Sep 12, 1993 (01:36):
 The word you are using is spelled "calendar".
 Calender is a word, though, so don't trust your spell checker!

 calendar n. 1. any of various systems of reckoning time.
             2. a tabular arrangement of the days of each month, etc. etc.
 calender n. 1. a machine in which cloth, paper, or the like is smoothed,
                glazed, etc., by pressing between two revolving cylinders.
             2. a machine for impregnating fabric with rubber, as in the
                manufacture of automobile tires.
        v.t. 3 to press in a calender.

 Aren't you glad you asked? (Thank you, Random House Unabridged)

 <dictionary drift = off>

#107 of 116: by Bruce Allen Price (bap) on Sun, Sep 12, 1993 (02:16):
 and what does it make of colander?

#108 of 116: by Steve Weiss (srw) on Sun, Sep 12, 1993 (02:24):
 At least colander is pronounced differently.
 When we first came to AA (eons ago) my wife wanted to buy a colander,
 but the people in the store had no clue what she was talking about.
 After sending her to the stationery department for a calendar didn't
 satisfy her, she asked the clerk, "What do you drain your spaghetti in?"
 The answer... " The sink" (sigh).

 And now back to our discussion of the seasons.

#110 of 116: by Rane Curl (rcurl) on Sun, Sep 12, 1993 (11:26):
 Calendar, calender, colander, colandar (?)...before all of this vanishes
 into the End of Summer, bring this discussion over to Language. Are there
 other words with this amazing melange of similar spellings but disparate
 meanings?

[srw then does it, so now we have this item.]

Thanks rcurl, I was thinking of doing this but I needed the push.

So this item is to continue the discussion of these or other words
with an "amazing melange" of similar spellings but disparate meanings.

rcurl, I believe "colandar" is not a word.

response 2 of 21:

Sep 13 21:03 UTC 1993

 a colander is a device used in the kitchen for draining pasta and 
other yummy things...

response 4 of 21:

Sep 14 06:01 UTC 1993

My dictionary is dated 1966 but is very complete. It does not show
lander as a word. It may have been added in the intevening decades
though. The only use of lander as a word that I can remember is
"Lunar lander" or "Mars lander". This use is almost jargon, IMO.

I acknowledge that the language is always changing, and that this
is good, but I have a tendency to be conservative about this.
I'm not sure I buy "lander" any other opinions?
If we can establish "lander" as a word, it's another leap to get
"co-lander". Amusing though, in the context of this item.

response 6 of 21:

Sep 14 10:49 UTC 1993

Lunar lander.

response 8 of 21:

Sep 14 17:15 UTC 1993

The issue of when to use one of -er -ar -or rather than another is indeed
a good deal stickier, & I'd hate to even *try* to give a general
explanation of the factors.  Sometimes more than one is correct, but aside
from etymological considerations in the origins of these things the most
important rule seems to be something like: when one form is in common use,
don't use a different one.  (And the rule of thumb is: if you're in doubt
& can't look it up (or it's not in your dictionary), use -er.)

response 10 of 21:

Sep 15 01:07 UTC 1993

The "who issue"???  (sf sf)

response 12 of 21:

Sep 15 07:37 UTC 1993

To "graduate" in the sense of "to divide or mark in degrees" does
have an agent form. It is "graduator". the -ar and -er forms are
not words in my opinion.

response 14 of 21:

Sep 15 12:48 UTC 1993

These opinions sound somewhat pedantic. How did those words come into
use? Someone used them. Apparently because lots of people use a form,
it is "OK". When did it become "OK"? It wasn't OK before that? If it
wasn't, how did it ever become "OK"? 

Graduater (or graduator) is certainly OK. You erred in ascribing it to
the result, not the action. The teacher does the graduating of the
students, so a teacher is a graduator. Also, a person that puts the
little lines on a thermometer is a graduater (honestly!). 

Exiter - more properly exitor - is quite alright, if you accept that "exit"
is a verb (I don't, but that is a different story - the correct verb is
to leave.) 

The bottom line is - are you going to go through life letting *others*
coin -ar, -er and -or words, and getting all the fame, without seeking
your own?

Your Advisar.

response 16 of 21:

Sep 15 15:06 UTC 1993

(I'll accept the charge of being pedantic, but did you maybe mean "academic"?)

response 18 of 21:

Sep 18 05:59 UTC 1993

Yes, this discussion is academic. It's not boring though (is it?)
I think Rane's accusation of pedantry was directed at me, not you davel.

pedantic, adj. displaying an overemphasis of rules or other minor details.
(there are other meanings given, but I think this is what rcurl meant).

I have opinions about the correctness of certain usages in English,
and you may argue that they are pedantic. It's all relative.
It sounds to me like you want to play fast and loose with the
language. 

I coin words..I don't let everyone else have all the fun.
Coined words are just that, though. They don't become a part of the
language until they are accepted. There is no official acceptance
process. This is admittedly vague. Appearance in a good dictionary is
one easy way to convince me that a word has been accepted. It's not
the only way though. 

I have never heard of graduater or exiter used in the way you state.
Since they also do not appear in my unabridged dictionary, I am
currently of the opinion that they are both not accepted words.

Exit can be used as a verb. I have heard it so used many times.
I am convinced it is accepted by most English speaking people
*AND* it says so in the dictionary too.

I must exit now.

response 20 of 21:

Sep 20 06:49 UTC 1993

Interesting image - verbal bottles - I like it.
I have only one problem with all of #19. You said that you
hardly need worry whether your usages are accepted or not!

Fine, don't worry. The purpose of language is communication.  If
any usage will communicate precisely what is intended, then it's
OK with me, too. I find, however, that when a word is misspelled or
misused that communication is impeded to varying degrees.

If I were to say "advisar" instead of either acceptable form,
for example, the reader might
(1) wonder whether I meant a different word
(2) think I didn't know how to spell
(3) think I didn't care enough about what I was saying to get it
    right.
(4) not even notice
or perhaps something else, I know not what.

This is a rather trivial example, with several small downside
risks and no upside I can see. In case (4) I break even
versus using an accepted spelling, and that's about the best I can
hope for. In all the other cases I communicated something
unintended. Therefore I choose to worry whether my usage is accepted.

Does this make me a slave to rules of English usage?
Perhaps, but I also coin words when the situation calls for it,
so I don't think it's particularly slavish.