Extempore

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Dr. Goodword
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Extempore

Postby Dr. Goodword » Thu Apr 28, 2022 8:33 pm

• extempore •


Pronunciation: ik-stem-pê-ree • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective, adverb

Meaning: Done without preparation, impromptu, unpremeditated, off the cuff, on the spot.

Notes: If you are in a hurry and don't have time to say extemporaneous or extemporaneously, this is the word for such a situation. The noun for the long adjective is extemporanity. Another adjective with the same meaning, extemporary, is shorter than extemporaneous but longer than extempore. Now we should be well armed for all situations requiring this idea.

In Play: As an adjective you might hear extempore in sentences like this: "An extempore group of string instrument players gathers every Wednesday at the Vicksburg Rail Trailhead at 1 pm." As an adverb, we can expect it in this kind of comment: "The senator's political party, fearing what he might say, told his wife not to allow him to speak extempore or answer questions from the press."

Word History: Today's Good Word smushes together the Latin phrase 'ex tempore', comprising ex "(out) from" + tempore, the ablative case of tempus "time". Ex resulted from PIE eghs "out, from", source also of Greek ex (out) from", Russian iz "out of", Lithuanian iš "(out) of, from", Hindi se "from, since", and Irish as "out, from". The source of tempus is assumed to be ten-p- "stretched" from ten- "to stretch", since [n] naturally becomes [m] before [p]. Evidence for ten-/ton- is found in Sanskrit tantram "loom" and tanuh "thin, stretched out", English thin, Greek teinein "to stretch", Persian tar "string" as in sitar, from si "three" + tar. We also see it in Russian tonkii "fine, delicate", Serbian and Croatian tanak "thin, fine", and Lithuanian tempti "pull, drag".
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dsmccoy
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Re: Extempore

Postby dsmccoy » Fri Apr 29, 2022 6:58 am

In the example sentence for extempore, you should just say " the former senator from Delaware".

David Myer
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Re: Extempore

Postby David Myer » Sat Apr 30, 2022 7:53 am

I am interested in your pronunciation here. ik stemp e ree

I have always said, perhaps in error, ex temp or ay; in the same way as social mores are morays when pronounced (at least by me).

Actually I try to avoid both words, partly because I am doubtful on saying them right and also because I am confident that most people regard their use as vaguely pretentious. And I don't want to be so regarded.

bnjtokyo
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Re: Extempore

Postby bnjtokyo » Mon May 02, 2022 2:34 am

Merriam-Webster says you can pronounce "mores" (in their definition: "fixed morally binding customs ") either as you propose "more a's"or "more ease" The dictionary gives the former first so I assume it is preferred.


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