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Forums => English & Linguistics => Topic started by: Porter on September 17, 2009, 07:48:36 PM

Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on September 17, 2009, 07:48:36 PM: ..it means.

What are some words, preferably with recognizable Latin or Greek roots, that no longer mean what they "really", "technically", or originally mean?

There are words like "inconsiderate" (the SR thread on elevators is what made me think about this), which while it doesn't quite mean "not considerate", is close enough that if you don't know what it means, you'll have a pretty darn good idea just by looking at it.

Such as "incredible" which originally meant "unbelievable". The standard meaning of it today is a metaphorical usage of the original meaning.

Then there are words which can be parsed for their original meaning, but whose current usage is even further removed.

I'm looking for some interesting words that fall somewhere around the latter two categories
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 17, 2009, 08:51:05 PM: "Inflammable" is not the antonym of "flammable". I just don't get that one.

"Decimated" literally and originally was "reduced by 10% ("Tithing to the Church decimated my paycheck"), but nowadays it is used to mean "almost completely eliminated".

"Awful" originally and literally was "full of awe" or "awe-inspiring" ("Have you heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? They are awful!"), but now means "horrible" or "dreadful".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on September 17, 2009, 08:55:34 PM: After taxes, how would you feel if the remainder of your paycheck was decimated?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 17, 2009, 08:57:33 PM: My 401K contribution decimates my paycheck.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on September 17, 2009, 08:59:28 PM: Quote
"Inflammable" is not the antonym of "flammable". I just don't get that one.
The original word was "inflammabe". The word 'flammable' came later.

Quote
"Decimated" literally and originally was "reduced by 10% ("Tithing to the Church decimated my paycheck"), but nowadays it is used to mean "almost completely eliminated".
I understand that there was an intermediate meaning that meant "reduce to 10%".

Quote
After taxes, how would you feel if the remainder of your paycheck was decimated?
It's decimated before taxes.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on September 17, 2009, 09:01:31 PM: Quote
"Awful" originally and literally was "full of awe" or "awe-inspiring" ("Have you heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? They are awful!"), but now means "horrible" or "dreadful".
Kinda like "the great and terrible day of the Lord".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on September 17, 2009, 09:03:21 PM: Quote
My 401K contribution decimates my paycheck.
I know! But I just can't stop!

I've often thought of cancelling, even before the stock crash. Now I'm just holding on like a crying baby on his first roller coaster.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 17, 2009, 09:07:56 PM: Quote
"Inflammable" is not the antonym of "flammable". I just don't get that one.
It's a different in- prefix. Inflammable means 'capable of being inflamed', not 'incapable of being flamed'. But because it was frequently misconstrued, people started using flammable.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on September 17, 2009, 09:10:20 PM: I think the error occured when they chose "inflammable" over "inflamable" or "inflameable." Or, maybe, they should have just chosen "fiery."
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 17, 2009, 09:19:53 PM: I don't see how that would fix anything. And really, it's not like anyone chose anything. It was simply borrowed from French.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on September 17, 2009, 09:25:35 PM: Inadvertent borrowing?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 17, 2009, 09:28:14 PM: Huh?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 17, 2009, 10:18:32 PM: Borrowed implies that we returned it later. As far as I can tell, we haven't given it back.

We stole it from the French!
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 17, 2009, 10:18:45 PM: Quote
Inadvertent borrowing?
You mean like theft, or infection?

I'm sure I could think of good examples until you asked. I have to go to bed now.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 18, 2009, 01:02:23 AM: Quote
Borrowed implies that we returned it later. As far as I can tell, we haven't given it back.

We stole it from the French!
No, we bartered. We took inflammable and gave them le western.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 18, 2009, 09:06:14 AM: Quote
Borrowed implies that we returned it later. As far as I can tell, we haven't given it back.

We stole it from the French!
No, it's like file sharing. They just gave us a copy.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on September 18, 2009, 09:13:21 AM: You mean file stealing. :pirate:
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 18, 2009, 09:46:30 AM: But information wants to be free!
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: goofy on September 22, 2009, 05:58:46 AM: Quote
"Decimated" literally and originally was "reduced by 10% ("Tithing to the Church decimated my paycheck"), but nowadays it is used to mean "almost completely eliminated".
It meant "to select by lot and kill every tenth man of" and "to exact a tax of 10 percent from". Interestingly, according to OED editor Jesse Sheidlower (http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970625), it has never been used in English to mean "destroy one-tenth of".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 22, 2009, 06:27:11 AM: Ingenious is not the opposite of genius.

Inert is not the opposite of ert.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: goofy on September 22, 2009, 06:49:57 AM: There are a couple of -in prefixes. One means negation or privation, as in impossible, illiterate, irregular. Another means "'into, in, within; on, upon; towards, against', sometimes expressing onward motion or continuance, sometimes intensive, sometimes transitive, and in other cases with little appreciable force" (OED), as in inflammable (and inflame), irradiate, imperil, ingenious. Both of these are borrowed from Latin and exhibit assimilation with the following sound.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 22, 2009, 09:13:11 AM: If we would just use kanji, we wouldn't have these problems.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 22, 2009, 09:24:14 AM: But then we'd have some all-new problems. :P
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 22, 2009, 10:06:34 AM: Quote
There are a couple of -in prefixes. One means negation or privation, as in impossible, illiterate, irregular. Another means "'into, in, within; on, upon; towards, against', sometimes expressing onward motion or continuance, sometimes intensive, sometimes transitive, and in other cases with little appreciable force" (OED), as in inflammable (and inflame), irradiate, imperil, ingenious. Both of these are borrowed from Latin and exhibit assimilation with the following sound.
And it leads to so much confusion! The "in" in inert (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=inert&searchmode=none) is of the first variety, but still, we have no "ert" (or "ertia", for that matter).
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 22, 2009, 10:18:34 AM: Are you actually confused, or is it more of the "why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway?" sort of confusion?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 22, 2009, 10:37:56 AM: I understand what the words mean, but I have trouble keeping straight which "in" is which.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 22, 2009, 12:31:37 PM: Quote
But then we'd have some all-new problems. :P
Yes. But I'm working on ways to deal with those problems once China has taken over the world.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 25, 2009, 09:38:11 AM: Folks are always talking about how other languages have these cool words that defy translation, well I've come up with a good English one.

Are you ready?

Blah.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 25, 2009, 09:41:38 AM: I think "OK" (or "okay") is a brilliant addition the United States has made to the world lexicon.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on September 25, 2009, 10:35:32 AM: Also, a word I can't post here.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 30, 2009, 06:11:12 AM: Is it "pouring over" or "poring over" a book, and why? Googlefight gives it to "pouring over" by about 5x.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 30, 2009, 06:22:28 AM: I believe it's poring (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poring).
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 30, 2009, 07:00:30 AM: Agreed.

I just found out that the original of "pablum" is "pabulum", and that in fact "pablum" is like kleenex.

Huh!
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 30, 2009, 08:24:51 AM: Quote
I believe it's poring (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poring).
I believe you're right. If you pour over a book, the pages will get wet.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 30, 2009, 08:37:25 AM: Wow, glad I asked.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 30, 2009, 12:22:51 PM: I had never heard of pablum until this moment.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 30, 2009, 12:30:50 PM: Your life in now complete!
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: sweet clementine on September 30, 2009, 01:38:18 PM: Pablum always reminds me of my grandma 'cause it's one of her favorite things to eat, with so much sugar in it that it crunches. Oh gran...
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: dkw on October 11, 2009, 10:33:49 AM: "It would be easy to make this recipe vegetarian by substituting the meat for extra beans."

Um, no.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on October 12, 2009, 06:05:58 PM: Quote
Kinda like a rabbit dog, you really have not other choice.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on October 12, 2009, 07:03:57 PM: (http://www.funnydog.net/images/sillyrabbit.jpg)

?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on October 12, 2009, 07:08:28 PM: (http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01372/Rabbit-dog_1372446i.jpg)
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on October 12, 2009, 07:22:30 PM: *steals Annie's*
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Icarus on October 31, 2009, 05:54:43 AM: I'm trying to explain to someone that "horrific" and "horrible" don't mean the same thing--or at least, they don't connote the same thing--but m-w.com isn't really helping me out.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on October 31, 2009, 06:43:56 AM: There was these people on the internet the other day fighting over whether one can be creepy without being creeping.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on April 14, 2010, 11:41:59 AM: Cache? (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/is-that-college-your-final-ans.html)

Good article, except for the glaringly bad misspelling of "cachet".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Scott R on April 14, 2010, 11:47:27 AM: How do you pronounce cachet?

CASH

CASH-ET

CA-SHAY

CASH-uh
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 14, 2010, 11:49:19 AM: CA-SHAY
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 14, 2010, 12:20:59 PM: I agree.

So how about clique?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 14, 2010, 12:43:59 PM: Just like click.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Brinestone on April 14, 2010, 02:26:52 PM: What about segue? :P
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on April 14, 2010, 05:05:43 PM: Quote
Cache? (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/is-that-college-your-final-ans.html)

Good article, except for the glaringly bad misspelling of "cachet".
Hah! They fixed it.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Zalmoxis on April 15, 2010, 01:13:40 PM: This Slate article whining about the use of the word kabuki in American political punditry (http://www.slate.com/id/2250081/) is somewhat interesting, but the comments are very interesting. The author gets schooled in usage, etymology, etc.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on April 15, 2010, 04:29:19 PM: I agree that kabuki just doesn't feel right in our political vocabulary, but I think the author is wrong. If kabuki, way down deep inside has a teensy weensy bit of personal interpretation, it's still by and large more about showmanship rather than variety.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on April 15, 2010, 10:18:00 PM: It didn't seem like the author understood how kabuki is being used. It does not necessarily imply disingenuousness, but it does imply emotion wrought to the point of bathos. My guess is that Rush Limbaugh doesn't think the left are lying, just that tragic flaws underlie their passion. I don't know if there is any element of that in kabuki. It is key to greek tragedy, and I'm pretty sure pundits have invoked greek chorus in their criticisms before.

I guess if I were to name an artform enough to feel posessive about it's use, it would be "Star Trek episode."

"Just like a Star Trek episode, congress went through a harrowing drama that had the very foundation of the republic teetering on the edge of disaster. But at the end of the day, nothing had actually changed."
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Scott R on April 16, 2010, 03:31:47 AM: My older brother and I were pretty avid readers, but we always ran into the problem of not knowing how to pronounce words that weren't in common usage.

Like cachet, which I would have pronounced cash-et.

During one memorable game of Trivial Pursuit, there was a question about some geological feature in the desert; the answer was "crested butte." In my ten-year-old innocence, I pronounced it 'crested butt.'

And got laughed at quite a bit.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on April 16, 2010, 07:00:38 AM: I was in 9th grade African history class, and I knew what a machete was, but I had never seen it spelled out, so when I got to the word while reading a passage for the class I pronounced it "match-ett." Everybody laughed, I was embarrassed, but that's school for you.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: sweet clementine on April 16, 2010, 01:13:37 PM: uh...how DO you pronounce machete?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 16, 2010, 01:16:13 PM: muh-SHEH-tee
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on April 16, 2010, 01:31:47 PM: I never knew that blackguard and \?bla-g?rd\ were the same word until I lived with my French roommate and we watched all the Jane Austen movies with subtitles on.

Also, solder. I thought that soldering was something completely different from \sä-d?-ri?\.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on April 16, 2010, 09:48:27 PM: A coworker of mine was talking about the "medium income" of various suburbs of Dayton. Another said that something or other "hadn't passed mustard".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 17, 2010, 06:51:57 AM: How do you pronounce Featherstonehaugh?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 17, 2010, 10:01:47 AM: I don't know, Jesse. It's not like you haven't posted it three or four times before.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: sweet clementine on April 17, 2010, 01:29:44 PM: Quote
muh-SHEH-tee
heh. Just like Annie, I never realized those two words were the same thing :blush:
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 18, 2010, 07:13:24 AM: Quote
I don't know, Jesse. It's not like you haven't posted it three or four times before.
Yeah, well, you've posted every one of those words before many more times than that.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 18, 2010, 09:23:29 AM: I just don't understand why you were asking a question that you know the answer to.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 18, 2010, 10:18:43 AM: I think he meant it more like a "didja know" than an "I dunno".
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 18, 2010, 05:37:46 PM: Sí. There are at least a couple new posters since I last brought Fanshaw up.

:devil:
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on April 19, 2010, 05:49:27 PM: There's a dude in our church named Vaugh J. Featherstone. I wonder if he's any relation.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 19, 2010, 10:25:30 PM: What in the world is a "featherstone"?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 20, 2010, 05:42:21 AM: According to Google, that depends on whether you have SafeSearch on or not.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Zalmoxis on April 20, 2010, 10:09:45 AM: I think I met him when I was a kid.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on April 21, 2010, 06:57:53 PM: One of my coworkers, Mike*, was several hours late to work today. Another coworker, Bob* (who isn't the brightest guy in the world) intercepted Mike as he was hurrying to his desk and said "Ho! It's ten o'clock and you're just not getting here? What are you, keeping baker's hours?"

*Not his real name.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 21, 2010, 07:09:37 PM: Is Bob the same guy who said "medium income" and "hadn't passed mustard" and all the other malapropisms you've mentioned before?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on April 21, 2010, 07:21:05 PM: Nope. Three different people.

That said, virtually all of the other malapropisms I might have mentioned here over the years were said by the same guy who made the "pass mustard" comment.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: dkw on April 23, 2010, 09:12:58 AM: The author of the book I'm editing used the phrase "chthonic forces." I put in a note that the images this will invoke for his intended audience (Americans in their 20-30s) might not be what he was thinking of. He's got too much classical greek background and not enough western cultural background.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 23, 2010, 09:26:33 AM: That would make quite a Hangman word, though.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 23, 2010, 09:27:55 AM: As would Zzyzx.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 23, 2010, 09:30:27 AM: Are proper nouns permitted?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 23, 2010, 09:34:04 AM: I know the rules of Scrabble, but Hangman? Good question. Probably whatever the big kid says they are.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 23, 2010, 09:35:20 AM: Yeah, guess so. My son and I play GHOST. He's a pretty good match for me, too. Taught the boy everything I know!
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on April 23, 2010, 09:54:07 AM: Quote
As would Zzyzx.
I've you're playing the alphabet game in a car and driving southbound on I-15, Zzyzx can often be the end game.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on April 23, 2010, 10:28:40 AM: Southbound? Who feels good enough to play that game on the return from Vegas?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on April 23, 2010, 11:21:23 AM: People who are religiously prohibited from imbibing. :P
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on April 23, 2010, 11:38:46 AM: When I return from Vegas I am already North of Zzyzx.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on April 23, 2010, 05:24:03 PM: Quote
The author of the book I'm editing used the phrase "chthonic forces." I put in a note that the images this will invoke for his intended audience (Americans in their 20-30s) might not be what he was thinking of. He's got too much classical greek background and not enough western cultural background.
Maybe my classical Greek background is too strong. What images would it evoke for Americans in their 20s and 30s?
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: dkw on April 24, 2010, 02:46:38 PM: Perhaps I am not giving American young adults enough credit, but I assume many would think of Lovecraft and his spin-offs before Greek mythology. And while he was using it as a negative, I don't think he intended to evoke tentacled creatures, or the lava-dwelling demon from Quake. Also isn't there a Chthon who's a bad-guy in one of the comic-book universes?

Edit: looked it up on wiki -- he's a god in the Marvel universe.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on April 24, 2010, 03:19:02 PM: In World of Warcraft there is an ancient God living under the ground commanding an insect kingdom named C'thun. There's also another one laying imprisoned away beneath the temple of the Titans who has slowly broken through his shackles named Yogg Saron. Both of them have lots of tentacles and beating them involves being devoured.
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on April 28, 2010, 03:12:08 PM: I blame their spell check. But "professional or armature" is probably actually not what you meant . . .
Title: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on April 28, 2010, 03:13:38 PM: I guess, given those options, I'm going to have to go with "professional".
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on July 28, 2010, 05:20:03 PM: "Homemade". I'm figuring that this no longer means what I've always thought it means -- made at home. The cafeteria at work has "homemade soups", the pizza restaurant has "homemade garlic knots". These things are made in professional kitchens, not at home.

Does "homemade" now mean "from scratch"? If so, that's kind of sad.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on July 28, 2010, 06:28:10 PM: Quote from: Tante Shvester on July 28, 2010, 05:20:03 PM
"Homemade". I'm figuring that this no longer means what I've always thought it means -- made at home. The cafeteria at work has "homemade soups", the pizza restaurant has "homemade garlic knots". These things are made in professional kitchens, not at home.

Does "homemade" now mean "from scratch"? If so, that's kind of sad.
I think restaurants are trying to cash in on the appeal of homemade foods by saying what matters is it's made from scratch here rather than any part of it being purchased premade. I agree it's sad.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on July 28, 2010, 08:48:09 PM: If I nuke a TV dinner and serve it up at home, is it a "homemade TV dinner"?

Um, are they still calling those frozen dinners "TV dinners"? I don't think so, but I can't think of what we call them now.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on July 28, 2010, 09:45:31 PM: They've become the norm. Now they're just "dinners".
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on July 29, 2010, 12:24:49 AM: Don't people still watch TV while eating them?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on July 29, 2010, 02:14:42 AM: Nah, they're on the Internet.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on July 29, 2010, 03:49:27 AM: Quote from: Tante Shvester on July 29, 2010, 02:14:42 AM
Nah, they're on the Internet.
Well that's true, but with netflix streaming on my X-box 360, I almost always eat them in front of the television. Currently, every current generation console offers netflix, or a movies/TV shows on demand service. I think it will be a permanent addition to the console market and hence people will watch TV on their television via the internet.

I also suspect eventually a service like netflix will incorporate brand new movies and TV shows, bundled in one package with a monthly payment. Lots of people will drop their cable/satellite plans.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on July 29, 2010, 04:26:04 AM: The Lovecraft character is Cthulhu, but I can see any word starting with Cth evoking that or ones like it. I played a card game called "Illuminati" with one of my intended boyfriends once, and it was the first time I saw Cthulhu or something like it used outside of classical mythology. One of the Illuminatist groups in the game was the knights of Cthulhu or something.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Scott R on July 29, 2010, 06:56:31 AM: Cydonia? Cumru?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Brinestone on July 29, 2010, 08:47:52 AM: I eat TV dinners about once a year. If that.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on July 29, 2010, 05:48:44 PM: My homemade dinners are TV dinners. If you think about my initials.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 06, 2011, 03:34:56 PM: Quote
HS seniors looking for summer job. Very liable and responsible and willing to work hard.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on February 06, 2011, 09:40:31 PM: I'm not even sure what they intended there.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on February 06, 2011, 09:48:13 PM: Reliable.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on February 06, 2011, 09:50:58 PM: Oh, right.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 06, 2011, 10:29:02 PM: Except, apparently, when it comes to proper English usage. ;)
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Marianne Dashwood on February 07, 2011, 05:22:44 AM: Ah. I guessed it was "likable."
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on February 07, 2011, 08:12:04 AM: Well, you can only be reliable if you've already been liable at least once before. The second time you do it, then it's reliable.

You can hardly blame the Young Thing for lack of liability experience, no?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on February 07, 2011, 02:30:59 PM: Don't be retarded.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on February 07, 2011, 08:32:50 PM: But I was never tarded the first time.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on March 15, 2011, 11:41:02 AM: Quote
I would like to be the first to offer you a well deserved congratulations. You are scheduled to be published in the 2012 Edition of [publication we are trying to sell you]. Your contact information was acquired by our research staff, who pour over academic journals, conference lists, and published papers in an effort to find the most accomplished academics nationwide.
(emphasis mine)

Honey? Glue? Water?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: dkw on March 15, 2011, 11:54:42 AM: Sincerity. Their letter is dripping with it.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on March 15, 2011, 01:23:19 PM: :D
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on March 15, 2011, 03:16:25 PM: Quote from: rivka on March 15, 2011, 11:41:02 AM
Quote
I would like to be the first to offer you a well deserved congratulations. You are scheduled to be published in the 2012 Edition of [publication we are trying to sell you]. Your contact information was acquired by our research staff, who pour over academic journals, conference lists, and published papers in an effort to find the most accomplished academics nationwide.
(emphasis mine)

Honey? Glue? Water?
What's the correct word, then?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: The Genuine on March 15, 2011, 03:42:17 PM: Pore.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on March 15, 2011, 05:26:37 PM: Huh. I had no idea.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Icarus on April 09, 2011, 03:41:51 PM: I am finding some debate online as to whether instinctually and instinctively are in fact synonyms. To my ear they are not. Instinctually, if it's even a word at all, would seem to me to be appropriate to a discussion specifically about instincts--like a science discussion. If you're simply saying that an action occurred without particular thought or planning, the word would seem to me to be instinctively.

Thoughts? Sources?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on April 09, 2011, 04:51:53 PM: My feelings agree with yours. Merriam-Webster has instinctually under the entry for instinct, but without a separate definition. The OED does not have an entry for instinctually, but going off of the entry for instinctual, I'd say that it refers more generally to something having to do with instincts while instinctively is usually used to mean something arising from instinct. Here's what the OED says about instinctively:

Quote
In an instinctive manner; by instinct; by some innate prompting; without conscious thought or purpose.

and instinctual:

Quote
Of or pertaining to, involving or depending upon, instinct.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Icarus on April 09, 2011, 05:38:49 PM: Thanks! :)
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 15, 2011, 09:30:52 AM: Quote
radial button
hee!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 15, 2011, 09:40:35 AM: What's that?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 15, 2011, 09:44:01 AM: What someone elsewhere thinks a radio button is called, apparently.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 15, 2011, 09:49:36 AM: Oh! Like radio tires!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 15, 2011, 09:51:20 AM: Exactly.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 15, 2011, 10:09:57 AM: That should go in the Eggcorn Database (http://eggcorns.lascribe.net/).
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 15, 2011, 10:33:15 AM: Except it appears you have to link to the source, and I'm not willing to do that.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 15, 2011, 10:34:58 AM: Fair enough. There are probably other examples out there if someone's interested in trying to get it included.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on June 04, 2013, 04:36:40 PM: Quote
spit and image
ahhhhhhh!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on June 04, 2013, 06:18:58 PM: Oh man, that hurts.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on June 05, 2013, 04:57:12 AM: Is that like spitting polish?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Kristina on June 07, 2013, 05:19:41 PM: A friend of mine bragging about her son on FB: The Principal was so complimentary of John and said he was one of the most contentious young men he has met.

:D
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Brinestone on June 07, 2013, 07:35:23 PM: Oh dear.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on July 02, 2013, 11:11:11 AM: There is a guy who sits near me at work. I've never really spoken to him, but I often overhear his fairly loud phone calls. He is for of saying that such and such "doesn't pass mustard".
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on July 02, 2013, 11:17:24 AM: Pass gas
mustard gas
pass mustard

Makes perfect sense to me.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on July 02, 2013, 11:52:13 AM: At picnics and barbecues he keeps the mustard all for himself, relinquishing only relish.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: BlackBlade on July 02, 2013, 06:13:08 PM: Quote from: Noemon on July 02, 2013, 11:11:11 AM
There is a guy who sits near me at work. I've never really spoken to him, but I often overhear his fairly loud phone calls. He is for of saying that such and such "doesn't pass mustard".
I frequently mix up pass muster and cut mustard. Drives me nuts, but I can't find a way to get them straight in my mind.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on July 12, 2013, 10:24:29 AM: Until BB said the correct version, I couldn't figure out what was wrong with passing mustard.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on July 19, 2013, 05:15:48 PM: Huh.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 18, 2014, 06:01:37 PM: ESP is not an abbreviation for "especially".

GAH!!! >_<
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on February 25, 2014, 07:21:08 AM: How about "esp."?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 25, 2014, 07:30:14 AM: Better, but only somewhat.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Sputnik on October 03, 2014, 03:30:30 PM: I asked a question on yahoo answers "What's a good thing to do before first period starts?" And then a bunch of girls (I guess) said stuff like "Don't worry about it too much! Just keep your pad ready" and "Ask your parents". I was talking about first period in school, as in the part where you come to school early and you're stuck with nothing to do. When I read those answers, I, once again, slammed my face into the desk, and felt dizzy, because I'm allergic to blatant stupidity. WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!?!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on October 03, 2014, 03:40:04 PM: I don't think that's blatant stupidity. Although you'd expect someone to say "before your first period starts" if they're talking about menstruation, enough people write like that that it wouldn't be unusual to word it that way. You didn't give any context to make it clear that you're talking about school, so even though it was clear to you what you were asking, it wasn't necessary clear to everyone who read it.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Sputnik on October 03, 2014, 04:21:58 PM: But they should've seen by my username there (Zorro64) that I was a guy! Is there anything unisex or feminine about Zorro?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on October 03, 2014, 04:49:35 PM: Usernames aren't always a reliable indicator of gender.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on October 03, 2014, 08:51:21 PM: Yep. I, for example, am a man.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on October 21, 2014, 12:20:24 PM: Phew. Here I thought you were going to out yourself as jussive.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Nighthawk on October 22, 2014, 06:29:20 AM: ...and I am not a bird. I'm a rabbit!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Sputnik on October 22, 2014, 05:07:11 PM: Quote from: pooka on October 21, 2014, 12:20:24 PM
Phew. Here I thought you were going to out yourself as jussive.
Who are you talking to?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on November 14, 2014, 09:49:32 AM: Annie Subjunctive.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on November 26, 2014, 12:09:54 PM: Quote from: pooka on November 14, 2014, 09:49:32 AM
Annie Subjunctive.

It was funny! (a couple weeks late. Sorry, sometimes when I'm busy I neglect this side of the forum.)
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 22, 2015, 07:17:01 PM: Today I saw a truck with a name for a landscaping service. Prosecutive. I think they were going for professional + executive. But maybe they prosecute weeds.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 22, 2015, 07:33:58 PM: A while back I saw an advertisement for a company called something like Honest Stump Removal. It made me wonder what a dishonest stump removal company would be like. Like, they say they removed the stump, but they really didn't?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: dkw on September 23, 2015, 06:11:41 AM: Perhaps they meant they only remove honest stumps. If you've got a cheatin' lyin' stump you need to call someone else.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on September 23, 2015, 06:24:26 AM: Quote from: Jonathon on September 22, 2015, 07:33:58 PM
A while back I saw an advertisement for a company called something like Honest Stump Removal. It made me wonder what a dishonest stump removal company would be like. Like, they say they removed the stump, but they really didn't?
I would assume dishonesty about how things like how much they charge, hidden fees, when they show up, how long it will take, etc..
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 25, 2015, 01:42:03 PM: I'm reading about Nursing diagnoses (which are descriptions of things nurses are licensed to help you with.) I was puzzled as to what ineffective denial means. I guess they mean denial denial. Ineffective denial sounds like... reality.

P.S. Then again, "disturbed energy field" is apparently a nursing diagnosis.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 25, 2015, 02:55:21 PM: A lot of Nursing Theory is just messed up. Which theory does your school hold by? Mine went by Orem's Universal Self Care Requisites.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 25, 2015, 05:19:28 PM: Benner seems quite popular.

I was thinking a good nursing diagnosis would be risk of damaged calm, related to the whole planet being dead for no reason.

On further reading, I learn the "related" factor also has to be within the realm of nursing. So it's probably risk of damage calm, related to the girl being right.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on September 26, 2015, 07:25:18 PM: Start it out with "Potential for" and you're right on track.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 28, 2015, 12:20:02 PM: I should point out to the non nurses that that was the only nursing diagnosis in the list that dealt with energy fields. Most of the rest of it was more amenable to evidence based practice.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 28, 2015, 01:05:27 PM: On a tangential note, I recently started going to a physical therapist as the latest in my years-long feud with my SI joint. It's been pretty effective and helpful, but I found it funny that during my last visit a comment on how cute my toddler is ("Thanks! He only looks angelic; it doesn't extend to his temper.") morphed into a discussion in which the therapist informed me that the children being born recently are "totally crystalline" and this makes sense considering the Age of Aquarius.

I have to admit that my confidence started to waver a little, but it seems like the actual fact-based part of her work seems to be holding its own. Kind of like my old massage therapist who taught me about the people who live inside the earth but also cured my carpal tunnel, so hey.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 28, 2015, 01:07:34 PM: I would be interested to know more about that particular intersection of venn diagrams, though - medical professionals who are also into hoodoo voodoo stuff. They would be interesting people to watch a documentary about.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on September 28, 2015, 05:11:53 PM: I almost said voodoo up above, but worried it was insulting to voodoo.
I've met a couple of psychiatrists who believe that Bush orchestrated 9/11. I don't know if they just have an odd baseline, or if I'm the dupe.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on September 29, 2015, 03:00:57 PM: That's why I said "hoodoo voodoo," hoping it wouldn't impugn either hoodoo or voodoo.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on October 20, 2015, 03:03:09 PM: I've used the phrase "hats off" a couple of times in the last 24 hours and now am wondering if it is similar in meaning to "bless your heart." I've been using it to try and express admiration for people who do things I consider hard, such as Brinestone canning and my friend who ran a marathon. Or maybe it was a half marathon. But definitely something I am not tempted to accomplish.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on October 21, 2015, 11:22:54 AM: I wouldn't say that's what "bless your heart" means at all, but the examples you give are exactly what "hats off" means. It's a simple commendation of something hard or admirable with maybe a little bit of an "I could never do that" connotation, but nothing beyond that.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Annie Subjunctive on October 21, 2015, 11:28:50 AM: "Bless your heart," in my experience, which is mostly with aunts from Texas, is something you use more to express pity and sympathy. When it's used directly to someone it's a direct show of either sympathy for a bad situation or acknowledgement of good intentions, such as,

"Aww, you were home sick all week! Bless your heart. You take it easy now, don't push yourself to come back too soon."

"Oh, bless your heart, this cake turned out just fine, I don't think anyone even notice that you didn't have time to add the fondant flowers."

When it's used to talk about someone who isn't there, it is usually a softening of a criticism by acknowledging that the person really was trying their hardest or had the right intentions. That can get a little strained when it turns into an attempt to make oneself feel better for gossiping or criticizing, but the intent of the phrase is still the same.

Two examples, one mild and one straining to make oneself not appear too harsh:

"Oh, bless her heart, she stayed up all night finishing that cake but it just ended up so dry and no one really wanted to eat it."

"Karen, bless her heart, just tries to wear clothes that she can't really pull off at her size."
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Porter on October 21, 2015, 01:29:07 PM: I'm sorry, but don't you know that all of you Mormons are going to Hell, bless your hearts?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Brinestone on October 22, 2015, 02:14:30 PM: My experience matches Annie's regarding those phrases.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on December 22, 2015, 05:36:10 PM: One of the Friday takeout specials this week is apparently a "melody of vegetables".

:blink:
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on December 22, 2015, 05:41:14 PM: Well, you know, beans are the musical fruit . . .
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on December 22, 2015, 05:51:24 PM: Pretty sure this is things like squash, onions, eggplant, peppers -- not so much legumes.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on December 25, 2015, 03:40:14 PM: Quote
creative non-fiction

Based on true events!
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: pooka on July 03, 2016, 08:35:32 PM: Artisan Wine Depot
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on January 10, 2018, 04:19:10 PM: Quote
100th decimal place (e.g., 1.99)
:blink:
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on January 10, 2018, 05:13:16 PM: So close, and yet so far.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on January 10, 2018, 05:18:57 PM: I was flabbergasted when another Registrar said they calculated GPAs to the 100th decimal place . . . . and then this one used the same phrase, but with the example.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on January 11, 2018, 08:15:21 AM: *facepalm*
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Ela on January 15, 2018, 08:43:44 AM: Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I'm not sure "enervating" is the word she wants here. I'm trying to parse what she's trying to convey:

Quote
I drive through this neighborhood all the time. One of the things I enjoy about Miami is that it still has some grit. Once gentrification starts, it seems to be inevitable and enervating .

Here's the article that she was posting about:
https://thenewtropic.com/allapattah-miamis-next-wynwood/?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on January 15, 2018, 03:33:55 PM: Is she saying that gentrification drains the life out of a place? Because I think that makes sense, though it's kind of an odd choice of word.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Ela on January 15, 2018, 09:45:00 PM: Yeah, that might be what she means, and yeah that does make sense.

But I did think it was an odd choice of word.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: spacepook on February 08, 2018, 04:55:12 PM: Today's "you keep using that word": quantum.

From my quick googling, "quantum" as a word basically amounts to "a specific amount, usually small". But people use it colloquially because of its correlation to "quantum physics". Which... hmm.

Thoughts?
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 08, 2018, 05:46:15 PM: Quote from: spacepook on February 08, 2018, 04:55:12 PM
But people use it colloquially
As a synonym for what? I've never heard this.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on February 09, 2018, 06:52:26 PM: Yeah, I think you need to specify which meaning you mean. I can think of less-scientific uses like "quantum leap", but phrases like that have been around since the 1920s.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: spacepook on February 10, 2018, 11:00:02 PM: It's "quantum leap" specifically that seems to be making me prickle a bit. Probably because one of the documentaries I watched about Darwin really liked to use "quantum leap" to describe everything about evolutionary biology.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 11, 2018, 12:03:41 AM: While "quantum leap" has a specific scientific meaning, that only sort of means something small. It means changing energy levels. For electrons, that takes a very specific -- and small, as everything on that scale is small -- amount of energy.

But metaphorically, it doesn't have to mean something small at all. It doesn't in the eponymous TV series. And it has been used since 1970 in that metaphorical sense. Before that, it was "quantum jump", whose metaphorical usage dates to the 1950s.

Now, overusing the phrase over and over in a single paper, story, documentary, etc. may be annoying. But it's not really incorrect any more than most metaphorical usages of originally-scientific words are.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on March 05, 2018, 03:42:20 PM: "We are in a time crunch, so if you could expiate the work it would be helpful."
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on March 05, 2018, 05:08:46 PM: I hope you told them that only Jesus could do that.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Noemon on March 05, 2018, 05:45:10 PM: Unfortunately, I was just CC:ed on the email.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Dobie on March 06, 2018, 10:21:00 AM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT5hoymUjio
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on August 30, 2018, 09:24:46 PM: Quote
pier recognition
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on September 13, 2018, 05:42:04 PM: Quote
walking closet

:angst:
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on September 21, 2018, 05:31:58 PM: :D
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on February 14, 2019, 09:48:51 AM: One of my coworkers keeps using "itinerary" to mean "agenda". She wrote up a meeting itinerary with a bunch of points to discuss, but I keep thinking, "So where are we going?"
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 14, 2019, 12:54:36 PM: Yes! I have occasionally heard webinar hosts use the word the same way and had a similar reaction.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Ela on February 19, 2019, 07:09:05 PM: Quote from: Jonathon on February 14, 2019, 09:48:51 AM
One of my coworkers keeps using "itinerary" to mean "agenda". She wrote up a meeting itinerary with a bunch of points to discuss, but I keep thinking, "So where are we going?"

This made me laugh out loud. :D
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 03, 2022, 12:41:24 PM: I do not know what is in the water lately, but I have heard/read at least 10 different people -- both in webinars and in (unrelated) articles/emails -- in the last week use "tenant" when they mean "tenet". As in, "One of our primary tenants has long been". Sources included webinars for both of my jobs, as well as random blog posts I happened to read.

NO NO NO NO NO. **tears out hair**

Not unless you are speaking of someone who rents space from you. :P
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on February 03, 2022, 02:36:55 PM: A colleague nurse keeps documenting about fowl odor.

When I go back home for Thanksgiving, as soon as I walk into my mother's house, I am struck by the pervasive fowl odor.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on February 03, 2022, 10:59:49 PM: And unlike many fowl odors, it's probably quite pleasant.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on February 04, 2022, 09:17:21 AM: We got back from vacation once and found that we'd left some raw chicken in the microwave. It was a very foul fowl odor.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on February 04, 2022, 11:43:29 AM: ~~sick~~

<edited out the emoticon>

It was in response to Jonathon's story about the microwave chicken.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Ela on February 04, 2022, 12:06:02 PM: No nauseated emoticons at me, please. I would hide it if I could.

I removed my post. Your emoticon is now irrelevant. ;)
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on December 26, 2023, 10:49:52 PM: There were a number of issues with the ad I just attempted to read. But "comfortability with [specific task]" was probably the most egregious. >_<
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on January 29, 2025, 10:40:29 AM: Just heard in a webinar "thanks to our crackpot team".

Um.
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Jonathon on January 29, 2025, 10:51:48 AM: :D
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: rivka on January 29, 2025, 10:57:56 AM: And the presenters are all part of a law firm that specializes in education-related law.

In her defense, she was talking about things triggered by recent actions of the Crackpot-In-Chief. So maybe that's where it came from. ;)
Title: Re: You keep on using that word
Post by: Tante Shvester on January 30, 2025, 03:12:37 AM: :D