desperance (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
desperance) wrote2011-02-09 06:56 pm
desperance) wrote2011-02-09 06:56 pm
The word for intern is internee
According to the 1930 very-English dictionary I have been using for this exact purpose, the noun derived from the verb "to intern" at that time was - "intern". Which of course means something else (particularly to Americans, but increasingly also to us Brits) these days, when we would use "internee" for someone who had been interned.
So, of course, the dilemma. If the OED backs up this historical meaning and confirms that "internee" came later, post-WW2 - do I use the correct-for-the-time word which everyone will misunderstand, or do I use the correct-for-now word which is anachronistic but clear in meaning?
So, of course, the dilemma. If the OED backs up this historical meaning and confirms that "internee" came later, post-WW2 - do I use the correct-for-the-time word which everyone will misunderstand, or do I use the correct-for-now word which is anachronistic but clear in meaning?