"Dave Mundt" wrote in message
...
Greetings and Salutations (again)
And I REALLY should re-read the posting
before I fire off a quick reply at the end of
a very long day...
I will take full responsibility for
spelling it "seman" instead of "semen"...
as I WAS the source for it...not the quote
from the online bible...
In any case, I also want to say
that my qubble over the term was that, in
my heart of hearts, I believe that
the "common" definition of onanism is wrong,
and, it has been misused through the ages.
However, like many things that are wrong
(say...the evolution of the term "gay")
I also realize I am trying to stand
on the beach and keep the tide from
coming in....
Regards
Dave Mundt

Its a pest to feel passion for the language, Dave, isn't it.
It just about guarantees that *something* or *someone* will annoy you on a
daily basis.

I share your concern:
Alternately;
fortuitous;
millennium;
definitely;
fulsome;
disinterested...

....the daily misuse of all these (and other) words *used* to drive me nuts.
It still annoys me, but advancing years have taught me to keep my trap shut -
except perhaps in self-defence.

"Onanism" undoubtedly began with the precise meaning you described. But,
heck, language evolves and by the 1930's (print date of my OED) it had the
meaning "self-abuse; masturbation" without even *any* reference to Onan or to
coitus interruptus.

As a matter of interest, I checked a dozen or so dictionaries and the OED
version is the most common, by a small majority. My 1923 Funk and Wagnell's
agrees with you, as does my 1985 Macquarie (Australian - like me).

Don't forget, King Canute "tried" to stem the tide as a demonstration of his
limited abilities, not because he thought he really could.

Me?
I've trudged back from the beach, driven home and opened a cold can.

Let the tide do what it will.

--
Jeff R.