On Fri, 7 Jan 2005 13:12:22 -0800, "gatt"
wrote:

It's been so
misused that lexicographers punted and included a second definition which is
equal to nauseated.

But this is equally a cause of the problem. Lexicographers prior to
about 1975 believed that part of their job was to instruct people in
the proper use of the word, so they used pejoratives like "vulgar" or
"among stupid people" (well, they didn't go quite that far to
discourage misuse. Since I was educated by the nuns, I still believe
in the immutability of grammar and word definition.

Oh sure, things change over time, but the dictionaries should be a sea
anchor slowing change. For that reason, I much prefer the Shorter
Oxford to the Webster's Collegiate.

The SOE, by the way, defines Tarmac (which it capitalizes) in the
strict way, then adds:

"the tarmac: colloq. the runway at an airport etc:"

So the British evidently first stretched the word to the runway,
probably because it was indeed made of tarmadam, and the SOE editors
hadn't yet caught up with the notion that Americans apply it to the
ramp.