OK Guys. One more slant. Webster’s defines them as:

Entertaining: to divert or amuse

Performing: demonstrating a skill in fulfillment of a requirement

Now, we all know what most ads in the paper say. They say “nightly entertainment” or “live entertainment”. That sounds like “diverting or amusing” to me. I have rarely seen an ad say “performance by skilled conservatory graduate”.

In the same light, if the ads said “Tonight: Elvis Impersonator who occasionally goes into the audience wearing a chicken hat” or “Technically proficient conservatory grad”, who do you think would get the bigger crowd?

Turn on Jerry Springer (vice PBS) and you have the answer.

R/I