`over'

[forsyth@plan9.cs.york.ac.uk forsyth@plan9.cs.york.ac.uk]

>>it is only with the benefit of hindsight and considerable effort
>>(forgetting such things as "hop over", "skip over", "jump over", "pass
>>over", etc.) that I can discern in the phrase "Plan 9 will install
>>over the second through last partitions" the idea that Plan 9 will
>>*DESTROY* my second through the last partitions -- so when it goes on
>>to say

oh god.

really, i have a lot of sympathy for you esp. owing to the problem with disk/prep;
i'm very sorry about any loss, and so on; i can tell you what plan 9 has, can, and might do to your
discs; BUT i really cannot agree that the Errata notes about installation
are not quite clear in the common dialects of English about the effect of using the old disk/prep
on a DOS disc with several DOS partitions.

no, i'm not having any of this.
let's see. (Compact Edition of the full Oxford English Dictionary; none of this CDROM stuff.)

i believe `over' is intended in the following sense:


   II. In sense `on', `upon'

	5. On the upper or outer surface of; upon: sometimes implying the notion of supported
	or resting upon, sometimes (now more frequently) that of covering the surface.
	6. To a position on the surface or top of, or so as to cover; upon (with verbs of motion).
	7. a. (Position) on all parts of the surface of; everywhere on; here and there upon.
	Often strengthened by `all', now esp. `all over'.

	b. (Motion) from place to place on the surface of; all about; throughout.
	Often `all over'.

	c. Through every part of, all through.  (Sometimes including the notion of
	examination or consideration: cf. 4.)

	...

	13. From side to side of a surface or space; across, to the other side of
	(a sea, river, boundary, etc. [disc partition!?]); from end to end of (a line), along.

and to my mind might even include:

	8. Above in authority, rule or power; with sbs., as `king', `lord over';
	`jurisdiction', `rule', `triumph', `victory over'; adjs. `victorious over';
	vbs. `to reign', `rule', `triumph', `appoint' or `set' any one `over'.
	9. Above or beyond in degree or quality, or action; in preference to; more than.

but no doubt you would have it thus:

	14. fig. In transgression or violation of; in contravention of, contrary to.  (Obs.)

It really is quite clear, and a proper use of the word `over': `install over' as in
`paper over'.  Your `skip over' and `jump over' examples really prove the point: the skip or jump
*crosses the surface*, *`from side to side'* of the thing jumped or skipped over,
that is precisely why `over' is used in that phrase.  that one ends up on the other side of the object is
a property of `skip' or `jump', not of `over'.  that property is not shared by `cover', `paper',
`sweat', `place', ... or `install'.  what happens when you `slide over' something?
what happens when you `cover over the cracks' (hello, Gates!)?

i mean, really.