tornadic, schmornadic

god bless television meteorologists. i mean, every court needs a jester, right?

how difficult is that job? my magic 8-ball yoda toy is a more reliable weather authority.

but, this has been discussed by many a more talented and onserving comedian than i.

my true beef with weathermen (and ladies) is their use of the word "tornadic."

there was much debate at work today over whether or not this is an actual word.

i know, i know. the word is recognized and defined in both merriam-webster's and encarta's dictionaries.

la-dee-frickin'-dah.

so is the word "ain't."

that doesn't make it proper to use.

i submit to you, my faithful readers (there's more than one of you out there, right?), the following email exchange between myself and a fellow coworker.

...

from: clay
to: noah
subject: by the way...
sent: friday, december 01, 2006 9:54 am

noah

good morning. by the way, tornadic is a legitimate word in webster's dictionary

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/tornadic

thanks!

clay

...

from: noah
to: clay
subject: by the way...
sent: friday, december 01, 2006 9:56 am

you realize, of course, that you've awakened the obsessive compulsive grammar freak in me.

just because it's in the modern vulgate does not make it a proper word.

this bears further investigation.

noah

...

from: clay
to: noah
subject: by the way...
sent: friday, december 01, 2006 9:56 am

and investigation is good!

clay

...

from: noah
to: clay
subject: by the way...
sent: friday, december 01, 2006 9:56 am

etymologically speaking, tornado is an anglicized version of the Spanish word "tronada" meaning thunderstorm.

barbeque is derived from the latin american word "barbacoa," does that mean that charred items can now be described as "barbequeuic?"

avocado is a modification of the spanish "aguacate," perhaps foods that taste like avocado should now be described as "avocadic" or if there is also a hint of lemon and garlic, you could use the more specified term "guacomolic."


...

ah! to be young and obsessive-compulsive!