Search found 70 matches

by malachai
Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:18 am
Forum: Languages of the World
Topic: cynic = cínico, cynique, cynisk, etc.?
Replies: 16
Views: 91263

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...
by malachai
Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:16 pm
Forum: Grammar
Topic: Compulsory or optional?
Replies: 18
Views: 48713

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...
by malachai
Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:00 am
Forum: Languages of the World
Topic: -stani
Replies: 9
Views: 51599

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...
by malachai
Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:56 pm
Forum: Languages of the World
Topic: Cursive vs Print
Replies: 59
Views: 235144

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?
by malachai
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: 1974382

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 ... u...
by malachai
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: 1974382

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"...
by malachai
Sat Aug 12, 2006 12:28 pm
Forum: Languages of the World
Topic: Cursive vs Print
Replies: 59
Views: 235144

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...
by malachai
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: 1974382

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"...
by malachai
Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:21 pm
Forum: Res Diversae
Topic: Die Übermodel
Replies: 8
Views: 25164

If I switch to UFT-8, I can see the IPA, but I can't see letters with umlauts. Does that make any sense?
by malachai
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: 1974382

"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 th...
by malachai
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: 1974382

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, f...
by malachai
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: 1974382

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 "...
by malachai
Fri Aug 11, 2006 2:06 pm
Forum: Etymology
Topic: hurrying into the little copse
Replies: 4
Views: 15402

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&qu...
by malachai
Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:33 pm
Forum: Res Diversae
Topic: Die Übermodel
Replies: 8
Views: 25164

Yes I can! Thanks Garzo!
by malachai
Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:33 pm
Forum: Res Diversae
Topic: Die Übermodel
Replies: 8
Views: 25164

[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 pronuncia...

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