Then Robin said,
<<Hate to be picky,
>To a true pataphysician this is evidence enough. I'm convinced.
But it needs the trailing apostrophe -- 'pataphysician>>
Do you mean to say that the word should be "epipataphysical"? If so, I
find the suggestion fascinating. Even if you are implying the use of
diacritical marks should be instituted as standard procedure in the science
of etymology, I do not follow why the word suffix "epi" should not simply
be placed at the beginning of the word when it is used. Why should EPI
exist by the proxy of an apostrophe? as if the apostrophe were holding its
place in line? Maybe there's someone we could write to about this.
In any case, Robin, you've broached a new field: if we can now provide an
etymology for an apostrophe, do you imagine any time will pass before
philologists will be giving etymologies for exclamation points, question
marks, and the semi-colon? Personally, I think it's only a matter of time.
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