On Feb 10, 2005, at 7:16 PM, Somers, Harold wrote:
> That's funny. My personal reaction to any marginally acceptable
> collocation that I personally don't use is that it's American ;-)
>
>
...and the Americans take the challenge!
The 11m words of the ANC First release include "less used" only once,
and "lesser used" does not appear at all. But "lesser known" follows
the pattern found in the BNC for "lesser used":
the lesser known people
the lesser known though no less captivating part of the Lake District .
lesser known but high - caliber musicians
lesser known but accomplished singers
lesser known works
the lesser known of the two
But we do have one attributive use of "less known":
a less known and common signification
Go figure (as we Americans say). When our next 10m words are ready in a
month or two, we'll have another look.
Nancy Ide
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Nancy Ide
Professor of Computer Science
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY 12604-0520 USA
Tel: +1 845 437-5988 Fax: +1 845 437-7498
ide@cs.vassar.edu
Chercheur Associe
Equipe Langue et Dialogue, LORIA/CNRS
Campus Scientifique - BP 239
54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy FRANCE
Tel: +33 (0)3 83 59 20 47 Fax: +33 (0)3 83 41 30 79
ide@loria.fr
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