The term pragmatics was proposed by Morris in 1938 as a tribute to C. S. Peirce's philosophy of pragmatism, to designate the study of signs and their relationship to interpreters. In 1946 Morris changed this slightly to make pragmatics the study of the origin, use and effect of signs. One of the main differences between the two versions is that in the second version the term use also includes t...

E. W. Morris, FRCS, Senior Orthopaedic Registrar, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 84 Castle Street, Glasgow G4 OSF, Scotland. J. E. Scullion, FRCS, Senior Orthopaedic Registrar, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB9 8AU, Scotland. T. S. Mann, FRCS, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, 84 Castle Street, Glasgow, G4 OSF, Scotland. Requests for reprints should be sent ...