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From: Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com>
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Subject: Re: What I've learned in comp.lang.c
Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2024 17:53:25 -0800
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Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> writes:

> The most common meaning of "idiomatic", and the one I usually
> associate with it in [the context of some C coding conventions],
> is "containing expressions that are natural and correct".  [...]

It surprised me to read this.  In my lexicon "idiomatic" usually
means something more like "easily understood by a native speaker
but resistant to literal translation".  An example might be
"raining cats and dogs".

Looking up "idiom" and "idiomatic" in several online dictionaries,
the meanings are definitely multi-valued.  In C we might say that
Duff's Device is idiomatic.  On the other hand we could say K&R
style function definitions are unusual in contemporary C idiom
(and so by implication ANSI/ISO C style function definitions are
idiomatic).  So one meaning is more or less "normal practice"
whereas another meaning is more like "strange although often used
construction".

Please note that I am expressing no opinion on which meaning is
"better" or "worse", or anything along those lines.  I just found
it interesting that these words have somewhat divergent meanings.