[BostonCard]

[quote author=Nan3cy link=topic=12082.msg117782#msg117782 date=1430939827]
[quote author=CornFed link=topic=12082.msg117772#msg117772 date=1430931980]
This thread is becoming an "off-topic" paradise.  Is there some way to generate a metric to know if this level of "off-topicness" is record-setting?

It probably isn't, at least until someone brings in the Civil War.
[/quote]

Why do some of you insist on referring to the War Between the States as the Civil War?  There was nothing civil about it.
[/quote]

civil |ˈsivəl|
adjective
1 [ attrib. ] of or relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from military or ecclesiastical matters: civil aviation.
• (of disorder or conflict) occurring between citizens of the same country.
• Law relating to private relations between members of a community; noncriminal: a civil action.
• Law of or relating to civil law.
2 courteous and polite: we tried to be civil to him.
3 (of time measurement or a point in time) fixed by custom or law rather than being natural or astronomical: civil twilight starts at sunset.

"Civil" in the context of "civil war" does not refer to the second definition of "civil"; it is not a courteous and polite war.  "Civil" in the context of "Civil war" refers to the first definition.  Thus it was a war occurring between citizens of the same country.

BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=Nan3cy link=topic=12082.msg117782#msg117782 date=1430939827]
[quote author=CornFed link=topic=12082.msg117772#msg117772 date=1430931980]
This thread is becoming an "off-topic" paradise.  Is there some way to generate a metric to know if this level of "off-topicness" is record-setting?

It probably isn't, at least until someone brings in the Civil War.
[/quote]

Why do some of you insist on referring to the War Between the States as the Civil War?  There was nothing civil about it.
[/quote]

civil |ˈsivəl|
adjective
1 [ attrib. ] of or relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns, as distinct from military or ecclesiastical matters: civil aviation.
• (of disorder or conflict) occurring between citizens of the same country.
• Law relating to private relations between members of a community; noncriminal: a civil action.
• Law of or relating to civil law.
2 courteous and polite: we tried to be civil to him.
3 (of time measurement or a point in time) fixed by custom or law rather than being natural or astronomical: civil twilight starts at sunset.

"Civil" in the context of "civil war" does not refer to the second definition of "civil"; it is not a courteous and polite war.  "Civil" in the context of "Civil war" refers to the first definition.  Thus it was a war occurring between citizens of the same country.

BC