ah - etymological exactitude. Cringing and cowering before the stinging torment of my accusers I am charged, convicted, and despatched to my hideous and terrifying fate within the pages of the largest dictionary in the library ......
In one's defence, one could argue that an historically based academic approach to the etymology of this word has been superseded over the past 40-50 years by modern popular usage into which sloth I fell in my previous post.
As many would say, language is the one true democracy (the not altogether successful efforts of l'Alliance Française de Paris in respect of 'French like she should be spoke' notwithstanding) ....
Regretably we must accept that usage changes ....
My own favourite is the historical misuse of 'eating humble pie' and, no doubt, you concur with my view in this matter.
We both would acknowledge outright horror at the failure to use apostrophe when appropriate and the ludicrous frequency with which the device is used when it is quite inappropriate. When combined in the one sentence, typically on advertising billboards (doesn't the advertising industry place any importance on presentation these days ?), the effect on one's mental state is profound ......
Ought I return to the scene of my malfeasance and destroy the evidence of my illiteracy ?
At the end of the day the limerick remains the one and only true artform ........ peace, brother ....