Spore elements

J.E. Shields jshields@indy.net
Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:49:23 PDT
I think I see the tracks of this usage.  In German, Spur means track (e.g., 
bear tracks in the woods) and trace (very small amounts).  Spoor is 
Afrikaans for track, from old Dutch "spor."

The article cited by Peter seems to have been translated from a German 
original, and contains numerous mis-spellings and incorrect usages.  It is 
not a suitable reference for English usages or spellings.

Jim Shields


At 07:35 PM 8/23/2012 +0100, you wrote:
>Rolands use of the term "spore elements" seems to be confirmed here, no
>language confusion!
>http://www.arts-info.eu/en/fertilizing.html
>where did the use of the word "spoor" come from?
>Peter (UK)
>
>
>
>On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 6:31 PM, Rodger Whitlock <totototo@telus.net> wrote:
>
> > On 23 Aug 2012, at 1:08, Bulborum Botanicum wrote:
> >
> > > spore elements
> >
> > A confusion between "spoor" and "spore" and thence between "trace" =
> > "track",
> > "spoor" (of an animal) and "trace" = "a minute amount". Etymologically the
> > latter meaningn of "trace" is probably a development from the former.
> >
> > Is this cause for laughter and derision? No, of course not. Could many of
> > us
> > with English as our first language manage as well in another language?
> >
> >
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Jim Shields             USDA Zone 5
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