Abhor

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Dr. Goodword
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Abhor

Postby Dr. Goodword » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:37 am

• abhor •


Pronunciation: ahb-hor Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: To deeply hate, detest vehemently, to shrink from with disgust.

Notes: The usage of this word has spiraled downward between 1708 and 2008, so today's Good Word may be seen as a rescue mission. The adjective from this verb is abhorrent, and the noun, as with all adjectives on -ant/-ent, of course, is abhorrence.

In Play: When hate does not go far enough, abhor is the word for you: "Those people who admire strong opponents usually abhor their victories." Abhorrence is not restricted to people: "Pack rats seem to be like nature in abhorring a vacuum."

Word History: Today's word is a reflection of Latin abhorrere "shrink back from, shudder at", from ab "off, away from" + horrere "tremble at, to bristle", from PIE ghers- "(become) rigid". Apparently, the connection with today's word is via the image of the hair stiffening on the backs of scared animals. This word also produced Latin horror "dread, religious awe", from horrere, which English borrowed from Old French as horror (Modern French horreur). The Proto-Indo-European word also went into the making of Greek chersos "dry land", Albanian derr "hog", and Old Irish garb "rough". It does not seem to have made its way into the Germanic languages, so English has no derivative. (It would be abhorrent not to thank our old friend William Hupy for suggesting today's sharp Good Word in the Alpha Agora.)
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Perry Lassiter
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Re: Abhor

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:54 am

Would that be William Hupy by any chance?

Not just animal hair, but humans too have their hairs stand on end...hair on the nape of the neck and the arms seem most frequent. Can't quite place the source or the rest of it, but I bet someone can easily: and make each particular hair stand on end like quills on the fretful porpentine (porcupine).
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Philip Hudson
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Re: Abhor

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:54 am

An old poem, uses abhor, along with a few other choice words, to make the poet's point about dried apple pies.

"I loathe! abhor! detest! despise!
Abominate dried-apple pies;"
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Slava
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Re: Abhor

Postby Slava » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:05 pm

Apparently, the connection with today's word is via the image of the hair stiffening on the backs of scared animals.
See: HORRIPILATE and Horripilate for more on this.

For me of late, I've taken hate to be the big one, beyond which there is nothing worse. I've been attempting to limit my use of it, if not eliminate it entirely. It is over-used.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.


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