mixed_biscuits
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A good worker would have their emergency toolkit on them
Linguistic ambiguities and nonsense phrases etc
- Thread starter IdleRich
- Start date
mixed_biscuits
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It still means the original thing as well tho - it's just that discriminating itself is derogated in certain contexts (society has changed rather than the word)
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Emergency bandsaw, emergency pneumatic drill, emergency surgical laser...
mixed_biscuits
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Yes, because a workman often finds herself having to use their pneumatic drill because of some emergency drilling situation - clearly these outlandish scenarios do nothing to undermine the general truth of the saying (which anyone in their right mind would never weaponise against a hapless surgeon having had to improvise a clitoridectomy with an airline lunch plastic cutlery set at twelve thousand feet over the bay of Bengal anyway)
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
This is interesting, maybe it's to do with politics? Sounds quite convincing to me
What Does it Mean to 'Endorse' a Presidential Candidate?
And how does it relate to 'endorsing' a check?
www.merriam-webster.com
Dorsum is the root of dorsal, meaning “relating to or situated near or on the back especially of an animal,” as in dorsal fin. That literal meaning of “on the back” is also the origin of endorse, which meant “to write on the back of a document” in texts going back to before 1400. This could be simply a signature (as in “endorsing a check”), or it could be a more elaborate note such as approval of a promotion in the military or a specific notation of a driving violation on one’s license.
The figurative meaning “to approve openly” or “to express support or approval of openly and definitely” is much more modern, dating to the 1800s. An early use makes reference to the nominating convention of the Democratic Party in 1844, but could easily be imagined as a line from election coverage today; only the names would change:
Col. Benton endorses Polk and Dallas, but almost directly denounces the Convention which nominated them.
—Brooklyn Evening Star, 28 June, 1844
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
You can see a similar thing happening with the word 'approve' too look
c. 1300, apreven, approven, "to demonstrate, prove," from Old French aprover (Modern French approuver) "approve, agree to," from Latin approbare "to assent to as good, regard as good," from ad "to" (see ad-) + probare "to try, test something (to find if it is good)," from probus "honest, genuine" (see prove).
The meaning was extended late 14c. to "regard or assent to (something) as good or superior; commend; sanction, endorse, confirm formally," especially in reference to the actions of authorities, parliaments, etc.
c. 1300, apreven, approven, "to demonstrate, prove," from Old French aprover (Modern French approuver) "approve, agree to," from Latin approbare "to assent to as good, regard as good," from ad "to" (see ad-) + probare "to try, test something (to find if it is good)," from probus "honest, genuine" (see prove).
The meaning was extended late 14c. to "regard or assent to (something) as good or superior; commend; sanction, endorse, confirm formally," especially in reference to the actions of authorities, parliaments, etc.
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Fun game this with the etymological dictionary chasing words, I started doing it on @luka s recommendation in the Prynne thread using this https://www.etymonline.com/word/approve#etymonline_v_15521
and I've been doing it again recently reading Paul Celan
and I've been doing it again recently reading Paul Celan
padraig (u.s.)
a monkey that will go ape
yes, I am aware of that. I know what the word means.
my question is, why is in- sometimes an intensifier and sometimes a negation, i.e. incapable or inconsistent?
is there a rule that governs when in- has which meaning or is it just something you have to know case by case?
a rule in English, or one that in Latin that would presumably govern derivation in English (leaving aside semantic drift for the moment)
or even French/Old French, since like much of Latin-derived English these words mostly, I believe, arrive in English via French
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mixed_biscuits
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Case by case, I believe
jenks
thread death
I think the original text on the screen looked like a boot - hence booting/ re-booting
But yes, one couldn’t pull oneself up by one’s own bootstrap - an impossible task
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Pshaw, typical public-sector type. You've obviously never tried hard enough!
IdleRich
IdleRich
I did miss that one Leo I have to admit. And I'm not really aware if that (mis)usage you mention so good to learn that.
Totally agree with the thing about meanings though, I've been lectured by Americans before who have taken a lovely old English word that predates their country by half a millennium, given it their own meaning and then insisted it's the one true meaning and thus I'm a woman-hating bastard.
Totally agree with the thing about meanings though, I've been lectured by Americans before who have taken a lovely old English word that predates their country by half a millennium, given it their own meaning and then insisted it's the one true meaning and thus I'm a woman-hating bastard.
Leo
Well-known member
I suppose people are thrown off by the "non" part, so they assume it means not surprised, not fazed, not concerned, etc.
Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Not one of Borges's better stories, that.
Clinamenic
Binary & Tweed
Ignorant to me means what the word would lead you to think it means, IE the thing or person doing the ignoring. Like determinant, only I haven’t seen ignorant used as a noun.