While we're on this topic, i'll mention that even a single author at the right time-n-place can have Enormous Influence. In my now Copious Spare Time, i've been translating a little piece by Natsume Soseki. Soseki was almost singlehandedly responsible for third person pronouns in Japanese. He needed them for his novels & translations, so he made them up. He even changed the way some words were written. For example, he was the first to use 沢山 (swamp + mountain) for たくさん (=many). These were little jokes/puns of his that caught on and lost their Sense of Humour.
English has also come a long way in a relatively short time. Its Orthographic Conventions & Manners of Punctuation & Such are all relatively new. Even as Modern as it really was, that Goddamnpynchonbook made for a bit of a slog. The aforementioned Gap can make reading Old Books painful for us Moderns -- so much so that old French Stuff may pose less of an Obstacle to Comprehension.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlatan
In french fries, the "french" isn't capitalized because it refers to a method of cutting the potatoes rather than the nation of France.
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Can we really be so sure what the referent truly is? The esteemed Members of Congress obviously thought it referred to the Hexagon. I have heard it said that the origin of pommes frites is "really Belgium and not France" which would also seem to make it an Issue of National Origin. There is much confusion, especially with Ignorance of Culinary Techniques galloping throughout the Land. (I fancy myself knowledgeable in the Way of the Kitchen, but even i have never made french fries.)
It all comes down to whether or not one is aware of a particular kitchen technique.
This is a distinction that Bourdieu might find intriguing.