The quibbling continues.
If I write, “The Sahara Desert is in north Africa,” persnickitors will bellow, “That’s redundant! To be technical, Sahara means ‘desert’ in Arabic, so you’re really saying ‘The Desert Desert.’ Say ‘The Sahara is in north Africa.’” As I point out on page 31, this doesn’t bother me. But if it bothers you, then, once again, we must apply some Xtreme Etymological Stasis in the spirit of my grousing about hoi polloi on page 29. To be even more technical, the name of that vast stretch of no apple trees, mulberry bushes, or McDonald’s is as-sahra, “The Great Desert.” If you insist that I say “The Sahara is in north Africa,” then I invoke XeS and insist that you say simply “Sahara is in north Africa,” to avoid using words that ultimately translate to “The the Great Desert.” Satisfied?
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Bill Brohaugh