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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 50 responses total. |
kami
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response 25 of 50:
| 
Mar 6 20:23 UTC 1994 |
zeit geist ist kaput.
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ydg
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response 26 of 50:
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Oct 31 08:39 UTC 1994 |
Ever notice that expletives are the only words you can stick inside another
word? eg absobloodylutely, polifuckingtician.
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srw
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response 27 of 50:
|
Oct 31 14:36 UTC 1994 |
This is undoubtedly because in common usage these expletives have become
so commonly intersprersed between words that their linguistic significance
has been reduced to slightly below "umm" and "uh". Almost every other
word in our language has more meaning, and won't then fit well in the
middle of another word.
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brighn
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response 28 of 50:
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Oct 31 21:29 UTC 1994 |
Not all expletives can be so inserted, and "bloody" is too uncommon in this
country for that to explain "absobloodylutely, which is heard in this
country. Also, the expletives have predictable distribution.
Finally, there was a word -- guarengoodtee -- used in a tv ad. It was
most likely derived from guarangoddamntee, but the fact remains that it
violates Steve's suggestion. It is a good hypothesis (considering the pros
don't have an explanation for the phenomenon of expletive infixing in English,
just a description of it), but I'd balk on the "undoubtably."
As far as meaning goes, I know what you mean, but it's a bit misleading.
Articles (a, the) have little meaning, and there's a redundant verb in
"I have got a headache" -- either I have a headache or I got a headache
means the same thing.
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srw
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response 29 of 50:
|
Nov 1 02:06 UTC 1994 |
I'll go so far as to admit that undoubtedly is an exaggeration, but I've
never heard of guarangoodtee or guarangoddamntee, and I'm not convinced.
Bloody doesn't fit in the middle of arbitrary words, but absobloodylutely
was coined by infixing in a country that has devaluated bloody the way we
have devaluated "fucking" in this country. I stand by my position on this.
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brighn
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response 30 of 50:
|
Nov 1 03:50 UTC 1994 |
Grant that. Same for absobloominglutely, although I wonder if they
really say that in England, or if our charicature of Brits is that
they say "blooming" and "bloody" a lot, and so in imitating them we
replaced "fucking" with "bloody".
Whoever'd done the research that I'm referring to had never heard
"guarangoddamntee" either, apparently, because it violates the
rule he generates, but my father says it and "guarendamntee"
all the time.
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robh
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response 31 of 50:
|
Nov 12 13:20 UTC 1994 |
Speaking of British expletives, I found it interesting when the
Brits on Usenet complained about the American broadcasts of
the TV show _Absolutely_Fabulous_. Comedy Central, the American
cable netowrk who shows the series, bleeps out the frequent
occurences of "shit" and "tit", but leaves in words like
"bloody" and "buggery", which are considered far more obscene
by the British. So if you visit the UK, and want to swear,
choose wisely. >8)
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brighn
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response 32 of 50:
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Nov 12 19:23 UTC 1994 |
I always wondered what a Brit who, upon visitng America and not being
briefed appropriately, heard an American calling their children
"little buggers" would think.
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bjt
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response 33 of 50:
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Nov 19 16:01 UTC 1994 |
What Dribloodyfting!
(BTW wasn't absobloominglutely from _My Fair Lady_?)
Back to topic: Tintinabulation.
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gracel
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response 34 of 50:
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Nov 21 02:52 UTC 1994 |
re #33: I *think* it's in the break of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly",
but can't remember enough to be certain.
return drift=off
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other
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response 35 of 50:
|
Nov 21 18:05 UTC 1994 |
flibertygibbet
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other
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response 36 of 50:
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Nov 21 18:07 UTC 1994 |
sorry... flibbertigibbet: n, a silly flighty person
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lynne
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response 37 of 50:
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Dec 12 15:06 UTC 1994 |
more drifting, but in a different direction...My favorite word is
"verloren"--pronounced "fair-LOR-en" with much rolling of the r's,
which is German for "lost". For some reason, i've always found
German pronunciation more attractive...all the stereotypical saliva
notwithstanding ;0.
er, ;) <one of the shift keys is broken>
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orinoco
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response 38 of 50:
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Apr 16 01:40 UTC 1996 |
tintinabulation is nice...also, regalia, paladin, Ezra, fandango, etc...
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freida
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response 39 of 50:
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May 15 21:05 UTC 1996 |
I like the word serendippity (sp?) and also the word muskrat.
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srw
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response 40 of 50:
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May 19 05:46 UTC 1996 |
it's serendipity, and its a cool word. i can't see the appeal in "Muskrat",
though.
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asp
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response 41 of 50:
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May 20 05:30 UTC 1996 |
the "usk" has a nice swishy-sound to it
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albaugh
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response 42 of 50:
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May 20 16:54 UTC 1996 |
What, you don't remember the Captain & Tenile?! :-)
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freida
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response 43 of 50:
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May 25 04:29 UTC 1996 |
I don't really think the critter appeals to me...just the word. The way you
move your mouth ( a whole range of motion)...and I like the word calamity too!
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srw
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response 44 of 50:
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May 26 04:12 UTC 1996 |
Neither the "musk" nor the "rat" part of the word appeal to me much.
I like the "calamity" sound, too. I think people tend to like the smooth
sounds of the semivowels, like l and r, and the less abrasive consonants, like
the nasals (m, n, ng). A word severly lacking in all these, and containing
an overabundance of consonant sounds, is the word "sixths".
I can't honestly say I like the way it sounds, but I do enjoy springing it
on non-native speakers of English, as a sort of "acid test". Perhaps this is
too cruel.
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asp
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response 45 of 50:
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May 26 20:21 UTC 1996 |
To make reference to another discussion, I love the Spanish words: "sabor"
and "proyecto"
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orinoco
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response 46 of 50:
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Nov 3 04:05 UTC 1997 |
I've recently come across a greek word, which I guess would be transliterated
'heloria'. It means treasure, and for some reason I _love_ the way it sounds.
Also, I've noticed that there's a grexer whose login is 'eloria', and
technically the 'h' in 'heloria' is made by just a little apostrophe above
the e. Could there be a connection here?
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davel
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response 47 of 50:
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Nov 5 00:47 UTC 1997 |
Well, you could *ask* eloria ...
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orinoco
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response 48 of 50:
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Nov 17 01:49 UTC 1997 |
Yeah, but I'm a lazybutt, see...
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gelinas
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response 49 of 50:
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Apr 16 12:15 UTC 2000 |
I can't think of a 'favorite' word, but the process of inserting something
(usually an expletive) into the middle of a word is 'tmesis', Greek for
"cutting". I learned this name when reading the Iliad, where it occurs
now and again. I don't remember the examples from Homer, though, so I can't
say whether they confirm the hypothesis above.
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