Samey

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7407
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Samey

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Sep 09, 2022 5:09 pm

• samey •


Pronunciation: say-mee • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: (British slang) Boringly monotonous, without variation or variety.

Notes: The adjective same implies monotony though it does not exactly mean "monotonous". Things that are the same are close to identical, but samey things are boringly similar, as Americans put it, 'the same old same old'. Same may not be compared, but today's Good Word may be: samier, samiest, and the noun is sameyness.

In Play: Although most people look down on sameyness, others are attracted by it: "Many people like samey food at fast food restaurants because it is always predictable." In fact, it can lead to rather surprising results: "Prudence Pender led a samey life in a small town until she retired and, with all the money she had saved, took up permanent residence in a luxury suite on a cruise ship."

Word History: Occasionally we add a redundant suffix to words, as we made crispy from crisp even though they both mean the same thing. Today's word was created the same way, by adding the same suffix to the word same. In this case, however, the meaning changed. Same itself comes from a long line of words meaning "same", "self", "together", such as Sanskrit sam "together", Russian sam "self", and Greek homos "same", as in homogenize "make the same". The PIE original was sem-/som- "one, in one together, uniform", source also of Greek hama "together with", Icelandic sam "same", Swedish samman "together", and Norwegian samme "same"., Oh, yes, that is also it in Latin simul "together, at the same time", which underlies English borrowings like simultaneous and simulate.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8013
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Samey

Postby Slava » Tue Jan 30, 2024 4:39 pm

A much politer way to say SSDD, too.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

Debbymoge
Lexiterian
Posts: 303
Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2021 2:15 pm

Re: Samey

Postby Debbymoge » Thu Feb 01, 2024 1:32 pm

Slava,
May seem more polite, but much depends on tone of voice, no?
I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.
Shakespear

bnjtokyo
Lexiterian
Posts: 384
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016 7:16 pm

Re: Samey

Postby bnjtokyo » Thu Feb 01, 2024 7:31 pm

But the attitude expressed any vocal utterance can change depending on the tone of voice used. There is the classic acting exercise where one attempts to express many as many different affective states as possible while repeating a one or two word phrase like "hello" or "good morning" with different tones of voice.

And by the way, I have no idea what "SSDD" is supposed to represent.

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8013
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Samey

Postby Slava » Thu Feb 01, 2024 10:26 pm

Same Shoofty, Different Day, with a different Sh word instead of shoofty.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

David Myer
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1134
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:21 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Samey

Postby David Myer » Fri Feb 02, 2024 6:47 am

I shall be very stroppy if Wordle uses SAMEY. Terrrible word. A bit like this week's Wordle choice of LEGGY. I know we can have Toey and Heady and Nosey and Handy but they have meanings beyond the original word. Leggy - bah! I just wanted to get that off my chest. Perhaps I am being chesty.

David Myer
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1134
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:21 am
Location: Melbourne

Re: Samey

Postby David Myer » Fri Feb 02, 2024 6:55 am

On bnj's point about tone of voice, here in Australia the word (if I can be forgiven for using it) Bastard, is often used as a term of endearment - "You old b..." usually accompanied by a slap on the back. It can be used to express envy of someone's good fortune - "You lucky b...". Of course it can be insulting too. Tone of voice is critical.


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 21 guests