Dave Plowman (News) said:
In article ,
Eiron wrote:
Very odd you want 'respect' shown to fiddle players regardless, but
are happy to slag off every other trade. Are you a frustrated fiddle
player?

The OED says "Now only in familiar or contemptuous use".

It's what a pro musician friend of mine calls his. ;-)

But then he is without an inch of pretension.

As a tune-playing "folky", if I heard a fiddle-player talk about a 'violin'
I'd wonder if they'd lost their way to an orchestra. Likewise, (a small
random selection of) the CD sleeves from highly respected professional
players decribe their instrument as 'fiddle'. Maybe that counts as
"familiar" ? It's certainly not contemptuous.

Context is all.


--
Richard Robinson
"The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes" - S. Lem

My email address is at http://www.qualmograph.org.uk/contact.html