snow 1 2 snow first apologize tony misunderstanding cocktail advice derivation origins misunderstanding correct second think quotations boas whorf helpful good reminder us debate third question whether sleet related snow nt agree agree related would defined relation water least students asked would nt define form snow ditto freezing rain fourth agree tony counting mediated many considerations grammatical structure compared languages spread form speech community nt think wipes admittedly small original point fifth going sidestep issue lexicalization vs complex construction nt think share view others importance necessity distinction indeed bit ironic another implication sapir whorf view language made words grammar constructions precisely kind objectification would expect formal distributional analyses show simplification jonathan states figuring counts simple lexicalised form hard yup ik given rich higly productive derivational morphology agree answer would eventually draw lines along continua nt think labelled lexical vs construct sapir offered nice theoretical machinery kinds comparative distinctions still see four arbitrary unmotivated forms deal specifically e snow slush blizzard flurry leave others decide whether various dialects eskimo less even point fail still life still find agreeing original insight point used argue always seemed obvious perhaps narrow scope relevant speech community bring closer home easier see would nt accept idea _ average _ lawyers vs nonlawyers distinct forms legal concepts others outside community culture course mean distinct forms implies complex relative distinctions hinted similarly take example know statistically speaking arabs arbitrary unmotivated forms camels english speakers even accounting differences syntacticosemantic structures two languages simple honest relatively uninteresting idea seem bother people much douglas j glick department anthropology vassar college doglick vassar edu