Subject: Re: [lojban] By the way < tangent?

From: Steven Belknap <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 10:29:25 -0600

On Tuesday, January 21, 2003, at 06:33 PM, Bob LeChevalier wrote:

> At 11:41 AM 1/20/03 -0600, Steven Belknap wrote:
>> I am skeptical about this being malglico. One has to have *some*
>> metaphor, and any particular metaphor is likely to be closer to some
>> culture's existing than another's.
>
> But a metaphor should have something to do with the correct
> meaning. Lojban tanjo pertains to the trigonometric tangent, and does 
> NOT
> have anything to do with the other sort of tangent (meaning "barely
> touching"). Only the fact that the English word is polysemous leads 
> to the
> use we made of it.

The trigonometric tangent can be defined (and was originally defined) 
as "the other sort of tangent". These two senses of the trigonometic 
tangent are identical mathematical functions. The mental picture I have 
is of a conversation which is proceeding nicely in the usual circular 
orbit of social chit-chat, but suddenly veers off on a trajectory which 
is a no longer constrained by the "gravitational force" of 
conversational etiquette. How apt! Whatever its sordid history, <ta'o> 
is well within the bounds of how metaphors are used in other instances 
in lojban.

co'o mi'e la stivn