Re: 'obtain' in the sense of 'succeed' is archaic

• From: David Beech <dbeech@us.oracle.com>
• Date: Wed, 07 Jun 2000 13:09:05 -0700
• To: www-xml-schema-comments@w3.org
• Message-ID: <393EABE0.9EC9F341@us.oracle.com>

Andrew Layman wrote:

> My copy of Webster's (Seventh Collegiate) defines "obtain" in this sense to
> be "come into force or being."  It does not classify it as archaic.  This
> definition accords with the usage found in the schemas specification.
>
> While I agree that intransitive "obtain" is slightly technical, it is hardly
> unclear and it means exactly what needs to be expressed.  By contrast, I
> would find many of the sentances in the specification more confusing if the
> word "obtain" were simply replaced by "succeed".

Agree that "succeed"`would often not read well, but "hold"
or "be the case" would probably go quite smoothly.

I would feel this usage of "obtain" was archaic in the UK,
with occasional sightings in the far north, but of course
that doesn't mean it's necessarily archaic in the US,
cf. "gotten".

  David

Received on Thursday, 8 June 2000 10:21:29 UTC