And yet millions of people feel otherwise. [[User:Czolgolz|Czolgolz]] 22:56, 13 May 2007 (EDT)
And yet millions of people feel otherwise. [[User:Czolgolz|Czolgolz]] 22:56, 13 May 2007 (EDT)
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:Among them, the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary:
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::1a. The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife. b. The state of being married; wedlock. c. A common-law marriage. d. A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage. 2. A wedding. 3. A close union: “the most successful marriage of beauty and blood in mainstream comics” (Lloyd Rose). 4. Games The combination of the king and queen of the same suit, as in pinochle.[http://www.bartleby.com/61/2/M0120200.html]
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::and those of Merriam-Webster:
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:::a (1) : the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2) : the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage <same-sex marriage> b : the mutual relation of married persons : WEDLOCK c : the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage
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:::2 : an act of marrying or the rite by which the married status is effected; especially : the wedding ceremony and attendant festivities or formalities
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:::3 : an intimate or close union <the marriage of painting and poetry -- J. T. Shawcross>
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:Believe me, I check the dictionary about a dozen times for every time I actually quote it, and I wish other contributors would do the same. Whenever I'm not really sure what the nuances or range of meaning of a word are, I check. There are many words whose meanings I ''think'' I know that, it turns out, I don't really know. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 06:11, 14 May 2007 (EDT)