368 

 SOME NEEDED NAME STANDARDS. 



By O. W. Barrett, 



Chief, Dii'isio)i of Elorticitltiirc. 

 (The Pliilippine Agricultural Review.) 



In the matter of stopping the usage of undesirable words pre- 

 vention greatly excels attempted cure. Horticulturists in general 

 regret that prompter action was not taken in regard to some 

 words which have now gained so strong a foothold in the English 

 language that it will be almost impossible to eradicate them. 

 Botanical nomenclature is necessarily a more or less confused af- 

 fair, but that is a matter for scientists themselves to worry over; 

 whereas the terms and names in daily use in the line of horticul- 

 ture, and for that matter in general agriculture, are words used 

 by the majority of people. Here lies an interesting fact in the 

 sociological, or rather the psychological, side of the question : we 

 are always prone to associate one word with others v/hich re- 

 semble it in sound or appearance, and by that association of ideas 

 much good or ill may befall the object or word in question. 



While it is true that there are plenty of cases of splendid profits 

 being made, sometimes without a substantial reason therefor, 

 through the fortuitous employment of a word or "catchy" phrase, 

 there are probably just as many cases to the contrary. The 

 writer has in mind, for instance, the case of a very promising 

 industry that was said to have been ruined by the inadvertent use 

 of the word "tubercle" instead of "tuber" ; one can readily see 

 that for a company to use, even accidentally, a word which is so 

 frequently associated with a certain serious disease is to court 

 disaster — even if we blame the result on phthisiphobia. 



The following cases of misspelling, misapplication, and misuse 

 of more or less good synonyms are worthy of interest. 



Coconut. — Importunately in the Philippines there is practically no 

 need to warn the jniblic against the old-fashioned spelling "cocoa- 

 nut." The British forms of the word, "coco-nut" and cocoa-nut, 

 should be discontinued as soon as possible, since strictly speak- 

 ing, the object is a fruit just as much as a nut, and since it is 

 now such a common and well-known article there is no excuse 

 for inserting the hy])lien any longer. I'.y the same token copra 

 is the correct name for dried coconut "meat"; the addition of 

 "h" ( r>ritish system or "x" ( S])anish style) is neither decorative 

 nor useful. 



Cacao. — This refers not only to the tree itself but to the seeds 

 produced therefrom. The term ''cocoa" should be a])i)lied only 

 to the ijroduct manufactured from the seeds— a trade term, like 

 chocolate. l>y the way, the final vowel in "cocoa" is interesting 

 as being-one of the very few cases of an absohitely useless vowel 



