Search found 70 matches
- Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:18 am
- Forum: Languages of the World
- Topic: cynic = cínico, cynique, cynisk, etc.?
- Replies: 16
- Views: 75811
According to my Duden Dictionary of Etymology , followers of the school of Cynicism were, in a sense, like dogs (the origin of the word cynic is to be found in the Greek word Kyon "dog"), in that they attacked their victims in a vicious and shameless manner. It's from the same root as the word "hou...
- Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:16 pm
- Forum: Grammar
- Topic: Compulsory or optional?
- Replies: 18
- Views: 33077
sluggo, sluggo, sluggo, have you learnt nothing? The compulsory response is that, although several have pointed out various difficulties with the statements as presented, it is optional for people to present thoughts however they wish, even if suspecting that they may give us a mixed message. All u...
- Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:00 am
- Forum: Languages of the World
- Topic: -stani
- Replies: 9
- Views: 40421
Hindustan is a Persian noun (meaning 'the land of Hind') and it is in Persian that you could make it into an adjective by adding -i. Why Persian? Because, in the 19th century and before, Persian was an official language in northern India. Persian isn't a Semitic language, of course, it's an Indo-Eu...
- Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:56 pm
- Forum: Languages of the World
- Topic: Cursive vs Print
- Replies: 59
- Views: 138513
Re: On the subject...
anders,
It looks more devanagari than ranjana to me. I think I can recognize some of the letters, especially when I turn it over.
I bought this book in India. I assumed this was an old form of devaganari. Do you know?
It looks more devanagari than ranjana to me. I think I can recognize some of the letters, especially when I turn it over.
I bought this book in India. I assumed this was an old form of devaganari. Do you know?
- Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:32 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
Re: Un-redundancy???
Just a thought, perhaps it is a subconscious part of the language like accents & dialects... I'm just trying to say that perhaps it is similar to dialect or habits, and it makes words sound better more very much hugely empathically more important, or perhaps it is just taking the place of ... uuumm...
- Sat Aug 12, 2006 5:13 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
I'd bet that the people who say "unthaw" are aware of the meaning of "thaw". They must have some reason for saying "unthaw" instead. My explanation may not be the right one, but there's an explanation somewhere. I've been listening to my friend saying "unthaw" for years and never once thought anythi...
- Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:28 pm
- Forum: Languages of the World
- Topic: Cursive vs Print
- Replies: 59
- Views: 138513
Re: On the subject...
When I have been to the museum, I have noticed that Sanskrit and Arabic alphabets have many styles. Several of them seem to have a block form and then a cursive form. Am I correct is assuming some forms of these are cursive? Also, I have seem writing from Tibet that has several styles some very cur...
- Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:57 am
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
I have heard unthaw before! I have a friend who uses it, but I never noticed it until now. I think "un" here doesn't mean negation, it means something more like "undo what was done" or "reverse a process". So if my friend is preparing frozen vegetables, "thaw" isn't good enough, she needs something ...
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:21 pm
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Die Übermodel
- Replies: 8
- Views: 11555
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:18 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
"unloose" means "loosen" (for some speakers) "undecipher" means "decipher" (for some speakers) And this is very interesting, but it also hurts my head: "They had only just moved in; their boxes lay on the kitchen floor, still unpacked." This means that the boxes were not yet unpacked. "Do you still ...
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 9:15 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
I've never heard "unthaw" before. However "unravel" 1a. To undo or ravel the knitted fabric of. b. To separate (entangled threads). 2. To separate and clarify the elements of (something mysterious or baffling); solve. and ravel... 1. To separate the fibers or threads of (cloth, for example); unravel...
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:01 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: I don't want to look stupid, but irregardless I want to know
- Replies: 135
- Views: 158605
I was thinking that possibly irregardless is hypercorrection, which doesn't let the ignorant offer the hook. 'Could care less' reminds me of hot water heater.... I call it a water heater since someone pointed out to me that if I had hot water why would I then heat it? I love expressions like "hot w...
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 2:06 pm
- Forum: Etymology
- Topic: hurrying into the little copse
- Replies: 4
- Views: 10006
Re: hurrying into the little copse
the fairyless definition from etymonline.com:
contraction of coppice, from O.Fr. coupeiz "a cut-over forest," from L.L. *colpaticium "having the quality of being cut," from *colpare "to cut, strike," from L.L. colpus "a blow"
colpus also gives us "coup" and "cope".
contraction of coppice, from O.Fr. coupeiz "a cut-over forest," from L.L. *colpaticium "having the quality of being cut," from *colpare "to cut, strike," from L.L. colpus "a blow"
colpus also gives us "coup" and "cope".
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:33 pm
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Die Übermodel
- Replies: 8
- Views: 11555
- Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:33 pm
- Forum: Res Diversae
- Topic: Die Übermodel
- Replies: 8
- Views: 11555
[quote="Garzo"]Unicode not showing up here is a bit of a worry. Try changing the character encoding (most browsers will put it under the 'view' menu) to 'UTF-8'. You might need a good Unicode font like Code2000 . That should help. I'm still not sure what would be the more correct pronunciation of Bï...