Emacity

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Dr. Goodword
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Emacity

Postby Dr. Goodword » Fri Oct 16, 2020 7:04 pm

• emacity •


Pronunciation: i-mæs-ê-tee • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, mass (uncountable)

Meaning: (Rare) Fondness for buying, shopping, spending money

Notes: I find it hard to comprehend how this word has fallen out of favor. We have a hard time referring to this type of person, so are forced to come up with such awkward words as shopaholism. Perhaps it's because today's word is a lexical orphan with no personal noun like emacist. However, the only thing required to make emacist a word is usage.

In Play: This word is needed to cover situations like this: "Maude Lynn Dresser is known for her emacity. She loves to squander her late husband's money." However, the sense of this word is relative. Emacity can be great or small: "Marketers bank on everyone having at least a little emacity."

Word History: Today's Good Word was taken from Latin emacitas "desire to buy things", the noun from emax, emacis "fond of buying, the adjective from the verb emere "to take, buy". Latin inherited this word from Proto-Indo-European em- "take", found also in Russian snimu "I take" and primu "I get, take, accept". Serbian imati "to have" and Lithuanian imti "to take" are other words that show evidence of the PIE word. English has borrowed many words from Latin based on emere: exempt from exemptus "taken out", from eximere "to take out", comprising ex "out" + emere "to take", example from Latin exemplum the noun from eximere "to take out", and premium from pre- "before, ahead of" + emere "to take". (And now an ovation for the mysterious Agoran Grogie for shuttling yet another Good Word from the brink of extinction to us.)
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LukeJavan8
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Re: Emacity

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:03 pm

Not to be disrespectful, but what is it that
makes this Grogie so mysterious? Anyone know?
I never see this person on the Agora.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

tkowal
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Re: Emacity

Postby tkowal » Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:47 pm

I guess emaciation is a false cognate for emacity?

Gene Engene
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Re: Emacity

Postby Gene Engene » Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:22 pm

Re: emaciation - I wondered about that, too. It has occurred to me that it might be an extension, into 'over-spent', having spent too much.

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Re: Emacity

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:38 pm

Nope. The similarity is purely coincidental. The root of emaciate is emaciare "make lean, cause to waste away", based on macer "lean, skinny".
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David Myer
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Re: Emacity

Postby David Myer » Tue Oct 20, 2020 7:01 am

I'm with you Luke. Some people become mysterious merely by carrying the label. Come on Grogie, expose yourself.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Emacity

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Oct 20, 2020 12:51 pm

Thanks, David.
Too many references, and no exposure in person,
is too many. Exposure or stop it.
I'll go first. LukeJavan8 is just a byword name which
when I joined seemed to be required on all these
sites. My name is Luke Daniel Herek.
Your turn Grogie..............
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

George Kovac
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Re: Emacity

Postby George Kovac » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:07 pm

Be careful what you ask for. What will you do if the mysterious Grogie replies "Luke, I am your father"?
"Every battle of ideas is fought on the terrain of language." Zia Haider Rahman, New York Times 4/8/2016

LukeJavan8
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Re: Emacity

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Oct 20, 2020 1:20 pm

Didn't stop Luke Skywalker.
I am prepared. I was a boyscout.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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Re: Emacity

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:08 pm

Grogie is mysterious because he is the only contributor who does not reveal his/her true identity. I always ask contributors to the Agora who are only known by their nicknames for their real names. Grogie is the only one who wishes to keep his/her identity secret.
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David Myer
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Re: Emacity

Postby David Myer » Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:55 pm

Excellent. I like her already.

LukeJavan8
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Re: Emacity

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Oct 20, 2020 11:25 pm

His/her freedom.
And that clears that up.
Remain mysterious, now we know.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

bnjtokyo
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Re: Emacity

Postby bnjtokyo » Wed Oct 21, 2020 9:40 am

The word you're looking for is "tsundoku," and the kanji are 積ん読
Here's the entry in Wikipedia
Tsundoku (Japanese: 積ん読) is acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them.[1][2][3]

The term originated in the Meiji era (1868–1912) as Japanese slang.[4] It combines elements of tsunde-oku (積んでおく, to pile things up ready for later and leave) and dokusho (読書, reading books). It is also used to refer to books ready for reading later when they are on a bookshelf. As currently written, the word combines the characters for "pile up" (積) and the character for "read" (読).There are suggestions to include the word in the English language and in dictionaries like the Collins Dictionary.[4]

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Re: Emacity

Postby David Myer » Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:51 pm

Thanks bnj! This is most interesting. I love the piled up plates in the Japanese character for pile.

Tsundoku, eh! And if the pile is huge, how do we describe that? Is it all one longer word or simply another separate word?

And is the doku part related to the daily sudoku that I waste my time on? doku - read, sud - ?


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