mixed_biscuits
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A good worker would have their emergency toolkit on themBecause they've been caught in an emergency situation, without their usual toolkit, and have had to make do with whatever they had to hand.
A good worker would have their emergency toolkit on themBecause they've been caught in an emergency situation, without their usual toolkit, and have had to make do with whatever they had to hand.
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)Sure, that explains the origin of the word, but not how it came to have meanings that are pretty much diametrically opposite in terms of value judgement.
What other words are there like that? One I can think of is 'discrimination', which used to be a good thing (good taste, refinement, expertise), and now means unfair treatment, usually due to some kind of social bigotry.
Emergency bandsaw, emergency pneumatic drill, emergency surgical laser...A good worker would have their emergency toolkit on them
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)Emergency bandsaw, emergency pneumatic drill, emergency surgical laser...
This is interesting, maybe it's to do with politics? Sounds quite convincing to meSure, that explains the origin of the word, but not how it came to have meanings that are pretty much diametrically opposite in terms of value judgement.
yes, I am aware of that. I know what the word means.The in- of inflammable is an intensifier
Like eg candescent -> incandescent
Case by case, I believeyes, 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
I think the original text on the screen looked like a boot - hence booting/ re-bootingBut isn't "pulling yourself up by your boottraps" the origin of the phrase to boot or reboot a computer. The point is - I suppose - that turning on a computer is deemed to cause it to achieve that impossible task.
Pshaw, typical public-sector type. You've obviously never tried hard enough!But yes, one couldn’t pull oneself up by one’s own bootstrap - an impossible task
And then there's "nonplussed", which means one thing (perplexed, disconcerted) but is often misused for saying the opposite (unfazed, indifferent). Some dictionaries list the latter as a secondary "American, informal" definition.
Can't get more American than that: we misunderstand a definition, but are so full of ourselves and convinced that we just decide to use the word for what we want it to mean.
MAGA!
I'm not really aware if that (mis)usage you mention so good to learn that.
In the spirit of the thread, please don't commit suicide over something so trivial.my excellent contribution to this thread was overlooked, so doing a self-bump.
Not one of Borges's better stories, that.infinte stack of readers digest magazines
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.there are also some more stupid ones for exaMPLE
"ignorant" does not mean ignoring someone
"laughable" does not mean funny