I have just eaten a muffin and this led me to reflect of the meaning of the word 'muffin'. Some web searching reveals that what I've eaten is called an 'English muffin' in North America and is also known as a 'hot muffin' or 'breakfast muffin'. Like toast and crumpets, it can be eaten with sweet or savoury accompaniment. But there is no way, in the UK, of distinguishing the two kinds of thing that are called 'muffins' - people hardly go around talking about 'hot' or 'breakfast' muffins in order to distinguish what I've eaten from the sweet, cake-like muffins which are baked in muffin tins. Yet another instance, I reflected, of language use being determined by an ongoing practice of reference and by the context in which words are used. Would the context invariably make it clear what kind of muffin I'm talking about? I rather doubt it.
On a different note, I came across
this chap's website today. I was frankly alarmed! He surely cannot be serious when he writes
I suggest that a better test would be to shave half a person's beard off, but not tell them which half.
I love the fact that he is careful to use terms that are non-gender-specific. And if you do as he suggests, and click on the link at the bottom of the page to
see him six weeks later, it becomes even more obvious that he has no regard for how other people might perceive him. Not only was he content to perform 'outdoor activities' (presumably in public) with half a beard, but was not at all worried about staying like that until the shaved half grew back and even then without trimming it so that the halves were even. Perhaps he imagines that the shorter half will 'catch up'.
I have found some evidence
here and
here that such things are considered fashionable but it's not at all clear that these people are not taking the piss.
