Re: How commercialized is otakudom in Japan


"Giovanni Wassen" <extatix@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Xns9CB257A32202C4815162342@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lee Ratner wrote:

Many Western fen

I'm curious, is 'fen' actually a word? I do know a certain creature living
in hyperspace from the shortlived live action series Crusade was called
'fen' as a deliberate pun (since they were attracted to bright shiny
objects but lose interest quickly).

That depends on your definition of "word." I say it is, because it's in wide-spread use. At least in America, we don't have a Ministry of Language (MiniWord), so that which people say are words, whether the dictionary companies agree or not. And, in the end, a dictionary can only be descriptive, since they have no authority to be prescriptive in any sense beyond "helpful suggestion."

Granted, the teaching world may take issue with my Humpty-Dumpty views, here (with all due deference to "A Certain Linguistic Sensei").

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