carcase vs. carcass
Gary
A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
carcass is a dead animal. I just assumed any use of "carcass" instead of
"carcase" in woodworking was a spelling error.
Lately, I've been seeing the "carcass" spelling more and more often. I
just picked up some British woodworking journals that use it. What's
going on here?
Is this a Yankee/Limey spelling difference? Are the editors of the English
publication sloppy? Have I been wrong all along?
-=- Gary -=-
Al Taylor
> -=- Gary -=-
If you've been following Dilbert, you would recognize this as an
attempt by Bill Gates to cover up a mistake in the Microsoft
spell-checking software. All mistakes will be assimilated into the
english language as fact from date of discovery.
hope this helps
Al
John McGaw
The dictionary spelling of the word is carcass which comes from the Middle
English "carcas" which goes back to the Latin. I must admit that I have
been guilty of using the "carcase" spelling online without knowing it was
improper. I can only plead the lack of a spell checker in my news editor
and lack of motivation to look it up in the dictionary in my defense. Or
should that be defence? ;-)
Much more interesting to my mind is the "rabbet" vs. "rebate" divide.
--
John McGaw
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
*** Please remove "no-spam-" from e-mail address ***
Gary <gro...@slip.net> wrote in article <75644g$2jt$1...@owl.slip.net>...
Luigi Zanasi
>Ever since I started reading about woodworking, I've known the difference.
>A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
>carcass is a dead animal. I just assumed any use of "carcass" instead of
>"carcase" in woodworking was a spelling error.
>
>Lately, I've been seeing the "carcass" spelling more and more often. I
>just picked up some British woodworking journals that use it. What's
>going on here?
>
>Is this a Yankee/Limey spelling difference? Are the editors of the English
>publication sloppy? Have I been wrong all along?
>
I checked in a real dictionary (not a Yankee one full of
misspellings). The Concise Oxford Dictionary lists both carcase and
carcass as acceptable spelling for both a dead body and for the
framework of a number of things. In French, the word "carcasse" also
means both.
Luigi
Gary
>If you've been following Dilbert, you would recognize this as an
>attempt by Bill Gates to cover up a mistake in the Microsoft
>spell-checking software.
I particularly like "zzzz". Go ahead. Type that into MS-Word 7 or later.
It'll give it a wavy red underline to say it's wrong. Then right-click to
see the suggested alternative spellings. Hmmmm.
-=- Gary -=-
Doug Preece
fourth
meaning of "carcass" is the skeleton or framework of a building or ship
etc.
So I guess "carcase" is an Americanism.
/Doug
Gary
>I checked in a real dictionary (not a Yankee one full of
>misspellings). The Concise Oxford Dictionary lists both carcase and
>carcass as acceptable spelling for both a dead body and for the
>framework of a number of things. In French, the word "carcasse" also
>means both.
I'll pass on the troll bait there on the dictionaries. Webster's Third
says that "carcase" is a British variant on "carcass." That makes it even
more amusing that the American publications tend to use carcase and I
found carcass in a British publication.
Common usage within an industry doesn't always align with the dictionary,
leaving writers with a dilemma. As an example, the singular form of
"dice" is "die." I rolled two dice. I rolled one die.
When I worked for a semiconductor magazine, where individual silicon chips
are called "die," they expected the word "die" to be used as both singular
and plural. My choices were to use "dice" as the plural (good English,
but I sounded like I knew nothing about semiconductors), use "die" as the
plural (sound like an engineer who doesn't know English), or just write
the article to avoid using the plural at all.
I figured carcass/carcase was to be another of these.
-=- Gary -=-
Nic
although probably carcase is the preferred 'Limey' version. I dare say that
nice Mr Gates and his spell checker is standardising on carcass though!
Nic.
Gary wrote in message <75644g$2jt$1...@owl.slip.net>...
>Ever since I started reading about woodworking, I've known the difference.
>A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
>carcass is a dead animal. I just assumed any use of "carcass" instead of
>"carcase" in woodworking was a spelling error.
>
>Lately, I've been seeing the "carcass" spelling more and more often. I
>just picked up some British woodworking journals that use it. What's
>going on here?
>
>Is this a Yankee/Limey spelling difference? Are the editors of the English
>publication sloppy? Have I been wrong all along?
>
> -=- Gary -=-
>
>
CharlieDIY
Or you need the real OED.
Charlie Self
Word Worker
wood...@webtv.net
Mike
Rickster
> My Oxford Concise Dictionary doesn't even have "carcase" listed
>
Luigi Zanasi paused whittling long enough to say...
> I checked in a real dictionary (not a Yankee one full of
> misspellings). The Concise Oxford Dictionary lists both carcase and
> carcass as acceptable spelling for both a dead body and for the
> framework of a number of things.
Hmmm, and they make fun of us Yanks...
According to Webster's New College Dictionary, carcass is correct and
"carcase" is a British spelling variant. I don't know whose dictionary is
correct, but I suspect that carcase is a common misspelling that has over
time become somewhat accepted.
--
-Rick
========
rmcquay
mindspring.com
CharlieDIY
>
>Rabbet; Plough cut on the edge of a board
>
>Rebate; Monies returned to a purchaser of a product as an incentive to
>buy.
>
>
Works for me, but I bet it doesn't for some others.
Charlie Self
Word Worker
JamesBow1
Could be one is a dead animal body the other is a garage.
Carcase=garage????lol
*****************************************************
The world is 95% perception and 5% interpretation
It is easier to change how people understand things
Than it is to change how they view them.
***************************************************
Robert Schmall
Gary wrote:
> Ever since I started reading about woodworking, I've known the difference.
> A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
> carcass is a dead animal. I just assumed any use of "carcass" instead of
> "carcase" in woodworking was a spelling error.
>
> Lately, I've been seeing the "carcass" spelling more and more often. I
> just picked up some British woodworking journals that use it. What's
> going on here?
>
> Is this a Yankee/Limey spelling difference? Are the editors of the English
> publication sloppy? Have I been wrong all along?
>
> -=- Gary -=-
Hmmm, lessee now. There it is on page 273 of Webster's Unabridged, right
between carcanet and carca velhos:
"Carcass, carcase (same listing):
1. the dead body of an animal. The word is applied to the living or dead
body of the human species in a scornful or humorous usage.
2. the worthless remains of something...
3. the framework, skeleton, or base structure, as of a ship, building,
tire, etc."
Looks like they all relate to rec.woodworking: the first two apply to any fool
who disagrees with Bennett, the last to a frame which will support doors,
drawers, etc. It appears that both usages are correct, so whether it's a
carcass or a carcase, knock yourself out.
Next?
Bob
Luigi Zanasi
>My Oxford Concise Dictionary doesn't even have "carcase" listed. The
>fourth
>meaning of "carcass" is the skeleton or framework of a building or ship
>etc.
>
>So I guess "carcase" is an Americanism.
My concise Oxford Dictionary sows both spellings this way:
carcass, || carcase,
with the "||" symbol meaning on p. xxiii - Chiefly not US, usu.=UK &
Commonwealth)
Which edition do you have? mine is a 1976 edition.
So carcase is probably more British than US. Doncha all love useless
pedantic threads on spelling?
Luigi
hran...@netonecom.net
>My Oxford Concise Dictionary doesn't even have "carcase" listed. The
>fourth
>meaning of "carcass" is the skeleton or framework of a building or ship
>etc.
>
>So I guess "carcase" is an Americanism.
>
>/Doug
That's the trouble with concision.
--
Ben Trovato
hran...@netonecom.net
hran...@netonecom.net
>Doug Preece paused whittling long enough to say...
>> My Oxford Concise Dictionary doesn't even have "carcase" listed
>>
>> So I guess "carcase" is an Americanism.
>
That's the trouble with concision
>Luigi Zanasi paused whittling long enough to say...
>> I checked in a real dictionary (not a Yankee one full of
>> misspellings). The Concise Oxford Dictionary lists both carcase and
>> carcass as acceptable spelling for both a dead body and for the
>> framework of a number of things.
>
>Hmmm, and they make fun of us Yanks...
>
>According to Webster's New College Dictionary, carcass is correct and
>"carcase" is a British spelling variant. I don't know whose dictionary is
>correct, but I suspect that carcase is a common misspelling that has over
>time become somewhat accepted.
The earliest printed use of *carcase* I found in the OED was in 1609, and the
earliest of *carcass* in 1650. But the OED missed six instances of *carcass* in
Shakespeare, from c. 1600. Both are English spellings; both share the same etymon.
Dictionaries, at least from Johsno forward, prefer *carcass*, but I suspect that
*carcase* remains the more widely used spelling in cabinetry.
All of which ought to remind us that there is no such thing as "the dictionary," and
that our language is full of surprises, especially for the overconfident.
--
Ben Trovato
hran...@netonecom.net
"In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be
thankful for; and for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican."
--H.L. Mencken
Pat Barber
>
> Ever since I started reading about woodworking, I've known the difference.
> A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
> carcass is a dead animal. I just assumed any use of "carcass" instead of
> "carcase" in woodworking was a spelling error.
carcase is usually reserved for a cabinet structure "in progress"
carcass is reserved for for a cabinet that has been backed over by
pickup truck in garage.....
I believe that clears it up.....
Rob Weaver
> Hmmm, lessee now. There it is on page 273 of Webster's Unabridged, right
> between carcanet and carca velhos:
> "Carcass, carcase (same listing):
> 1. the dead body of an animal. The word is applied to the living or dead
> body of the human species in a scornful or humorous usage.
> 2. the worthless remains of something...
> 3. the framework, skeleton, or base structure, as of a ship, building,
> tire, etc."
> Looks like they all relate to rec.woodworking: the first two apply to any fool
> who disagrees with Bennett,
Dear Mr Schmall;
I got precisely to where I had to snip your post, when my coffee
spontaneously sprayed all over my keyboard and moniitor. Expect bill
for same shortly.
Respectfully yours,
Rob (roflmao) Weaver
Jeff Gorman
Doug Preece wrote in message
<01be2879$74bc3d80$f604...@preece.wavenet>...
>My Oxford Concise Dictionary doesn't even have "carcase" listed. The
>fourth
>meaning of "carcass" is the skeleton or framework of a building or
ship
>etc.
>
Here's a cut and paste from the electronic version of the Concise
Oxford Dictionary:
carcass / / n. (also Brit. carcase)
1 the dead body of an animal, esp. a trunk for cutting up as meat.
2 the bones of a cooked bird.
3 derog. the human body, living or dead.
4 the skeleton or framework of a building, ship, etc.
5 worthless remains.
[Middle English from Anglo-French carcois (Old French charcois) and
from French carcasse: ultimate origin unknown]
When 'carcase' was entered, it went straight to 'carcass'.
A cabinetmaker's mistake to #4 soon transforms it into #5.
Jeff
--
Jeff Gorman - West Yorkshire
Je...@millard.demon.co.uk
www.millard.demon.co.uk/index.html
Robert Schmall
> Robert Schmall wrote:
> > Hmmm, lessee now. There it is on page 273 of Webster's Unabridged, right
> > between carcanet and carca velhos:
> > "Carcass, carcase (same listing):
> > 1. the dead body of an animal. The word is applied to the living or dead
> > body of the human species in a scornful or humorous usage.
> > 2. the worthless remains of something...
> > 3. the framework, skeleton, or base structure, as of a ship, building,
> > tire, etc."
> > Looks like they all relate to rec.woodworking: the first two apply to any fool
> > who disagrees with Bennett,
>
> Dear Mr Schmall;
>
> I got precisely to where I had to snip your post, when my coffee
> spontaneously sprayed all over my keyboard and moniitor. Expect bill
> for same shortly.
>
Please forward all bills to my agent, Mr. Leeds.And call me Bob. 8>)
Gary
>So carcase is probably more British than US. Doncha all love useless
>pedantic threads on spelling?
Pedantic? Possibly. Useless? Certainly not! I asked a question, got a
number of very good answers, and learned something in the process.
Doesn't sound useless to me.
I do find it amusing that there have been some twenty messages in this
thread, while I see so many requests for project-related help go
completely unanswered.
Thanks for your participation in this thread. Like I said - it's been
educational.
-=- Gary -=-
Gary
>> A carcase is the main shell of a cabinet/desk/dresser/whatever, and a
>> carcass is a dead animal.
Pat Barber responded:
>carcase is usually reserved for a cabinet structure "in progress"
>
>carcass is reserved for for a cabinet that has been backed over by
>pickup truck in garage.....
I think you get the prize for best answer so far.
The summation of everything else we've discovered from the OED and Oxford
Concise and Webster's Third and all of our other definitive (ha!) sources
seems to be "use whichever spelling you please, and you've got plenty of
support for using either one."
-=- Gary -=-
Gerald Masgai
>I do find it amusing that there have been some twenty messages in this
>thread, while I see so many requests for project-related help go
>completely unanswered.
Gary,
Don't worry about those unanswered posts, the serious inquiries are answered
via e-mail.
--
Best of luck in your endeavors,
Gerald Masgai
Reply to: g-ma...@ix.netcom.com
Notes From My Shop: http://www.geocities.com/PicketFence/5276/shop/
Gary
>Don't worry about those unanswered posts, the serious inquiries are
answered
>via e-mail.
Really? Any advice on getting an answer to my Rockler weather station
question? I got no response on r.ww or in email, and haven't been able to
get a response from Rockler either. Christmas approacheth!!! The
question was:
---
I'm making some weather stations (barometer, thermometer, hygrometer) as
Christmas presents. I ordered the instruments from Rockler.
The thermometers are fine. The barometers are adjustable. The two
hygrometers show quite different readings, they came with no instructions,
and I can't find any way to adjust them. Maybe it doesn't matter, since
the recipients live 150 miles apart, but it just *bugs* me to make two
weather stations and have the readings not match.
Anybody have any ideas?
-=- Gary -=-
nitas...@gmail.com
Carcase!
Markem
ads
wrote:
Carcase is what the kids keep Hot Wheels in; carcass is the dead
opussum on the yellow center line of the roadway ;-)
k...@notreal.com
ads
k...@notreal.com
don't fit the lyrics.
J. Clarke
England.
CPM Systems
https://sites.google.com/view/furnituremanufacturers/
k...@notreal.com
Well, I suppose some do think about their employer a lot but their
"comfort" probably isn't at the top of the list.
"...that they don't be able to complain about any issue..."
Ah, Chinglish. What do you expect?
Peter Dickason
> opussum on the yellow center line of the roadway ;-)
Eli the Bearded
> In my 53 years of life I have never before seen the word 'carcase'. I
> had to google it and still it wasn't obvious. Finally, I determined
> the word they meant was carcass and that some references say they are
> interchangeable. Great. This is why I hate the English language and
> why I was never good at it in school. There is no logic to it
> whatsoever and basically derived from the drunken hoards of the middle
> ages.
"Word-hoard" has been used as a modern version of what Old English would
use to describe a vocabulary (or a dictionary). I've seen "word-hoard"
used in translations of _Beowolf_ for example.
But to really bring your point home, the hordes were drunk, not the
hoards. :^)
Elijah
------
carcase = carnal (flesh) + case (box)
Leon
>> Carcase is what the kids keep Hot Wheels in; carcass is the dead
>> opussum on the yellow center line of the roadway ;-)
>
> That's what a car case is to me. In my 53 years of life I have never before seen the word 'carcase'. I had to google it and still it wasn't obvious. Finally, I determined the word they meant was carcass and that some references say they are interchangeable. Great. This is why I hate the English language and why I was never good at it in school.
it's issues.
There is no logic to it whatsoever and basically derived from the
drunken hoards of the middle ages.
not my friend. I don't care for words that begin with a silent letter.
What is the point?
Pneumonia, Xylophone, Knife to name a few. And why does "sure" not have
an "h"in it?
Don't get me started on sword.
Banks that have failed for some reason thought that their name should
have Banc in their name.
And last but certainly not least......
NYU, yes a university. Who would have thought New York Vniversity?
Spelling is not that University's strong point. Yes, University begins
with a "V" on the building letters just below the NYU flag.
Scott Lurndal
Scott Lurndal
DerbyDad03
me of something.
I used to work for a company that had database of our customers.
When we'd create an entry for a customer, the system automatically
created a "Short Name". It was a simple process: Last name followed
by first initial.
Don Smith -> SMITHD
Sue Jones -> JONESS
Now, luckily, this was all internal and the customer never saw their
Short Name, because...
Soon after I started working there, I took on a new customer. A
Chinese gentleman named Kiu Chin. I'll leave to you to figure
the Short Name that the system created.
BTW...the Short Name became hardcoded into the system with no
ability for the user to modify it. That Short Name stayed attached
to Mr. Chin's account for many years, until that database was
eventually retired.
Leon
It still looks stupid. One would have thought that the flag would have
had a V too.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lcb11211/51858716716/in/dateposted/
meff
> This goes back to Roman times. You try to hand carve a U.
not sure that it was carving purposes that drove this choice, but
maybe.