brackish

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Flaminius
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brackish

Postby Flaminius » Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:42 am

Brackish water refers to something between fresh water and seawater. According to Merriam-Webster Online, it comes from a Dutch word meaning salty. Does English have any relative words to it?

The second meaning of brackish is having bad taste, according to the same source. I don't quite get why being salty has come to be associated with bad taste of food but have a first-hand experience. I once added salt into tea from what I believed to be a sugar pot. I will never forget how brackish that brackish black tea was that I helped myself to.

BTW, as the average salinity of seawater is 3.5%, I am just wondering if any salt concentration from just below 3.5% to almost 0% fits in the definition of brackish water.

Flam

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Dr. Goodword
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Brackish

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:43 pm

Brak means 'salty' in Dutch, so brakish would be 'saltyish'. It is a rather stranded word with few relatives in Dutch. German has Brackwasser but no Brack that I can find.

I think I'll pass on this one but 'etiolate' is an old favorite of mine that I've scheduled for March.
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Spiff
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Re: Brackish

Postby Spiff » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:21 am

Brak means 'salty' in Dutch, so brakish would be 'saltyish'. It is a rather stranded word with few relatives in Dutch.
And it's only ever used in connection with water.
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KatyBr
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Postby KatyBr » Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:51 am

It's nice to see the Spaceman has made the transition.

Katy

Spiff
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Postby Spiff » Mon Feb 21, 2005 12:28 pm

This place seems like a very familiar galaxy. :)
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"The capacity for humankind to centralize its importance in the grand scheme of things is quite impressive."
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