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Word of the Day
LEGERDEMAIN (Noun, English) Skilled, dexterous use of the hands when performing magical tricks. Has also taken on a pejorative meaning of deceit or trickery. Note: Cited originally in English during the 16th century. From the French phrase 'léger de main' (light of hand).
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Category Archives: Word Formation
More Linguistic Asymmetries
The English prefix un- comes directly from Old English (and shares a common Indo-European root with Latin in- and Greek a-) Prefixed to an adjective A, the resulting new word means ‘not A’ and can convey either positive or negative … Continue reading
We’re All Verbs Now
Maybe, maybe not. Are there any English speakers today who don’t accept text as a verb? It was an easy move to permit text as a verb, follownig the paradigm of other communication channel noun-verb pairs in English — the … Continue reading
Posted in language change, Word Formation, Word Usage
Tagged acronyms, English verbs, language change, word formation
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Linguistic Asymmetries
Have you ever noticed that, while some words which take a prefix seem to form nice pairings with opposite meaning polarity (tie/untie, compliance/noncompliance, tasteful/distasteful), other pairs don’t work this way? For example, there is nonplussed, but not plussed, insipid, but … Continue reading
Posted in etymology, language change, Semantics, Word Formation, Word Usage
Tagged back-formation, language change, recombobulation area, semantic pairs
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Gates
The word gate is a good old English word, the form being geat in Old English (plural geatu) and whose meaning was ‘an opening or entrance’. A watergate (from the 15th century) is a channel for water; the first element … Continue reading
What’s in a Name’s Ending?
Have you ever wondered why we say Californian and Bostonian, but then say New Yorker, Londoner and Midwesterner? A friend recently used the term Kendallites to refer to habitues of Kendall Square, Cambridge MA. I understood perfectly what he meant … Continue reading
Freewheeling Expression
Do printed dictionaries still matter? I doubt most people use them much nowadays to check spellings — spellcheckers are nearly ubiquitous in word-processing software of all types. There are also myriad sources for usage examples, including many online resources that … Continue reading
Posted in Word Formation, Word Usage, writing
Tagged language and technology, word formation
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Sportaholics and Sexavores
Just back from travels, so a short post today. There is a nice case of a newly productive suffix in English worth noting: –vore. In the past there was a limited set that includes the well-known carnivore, herbivore, omnivore. Recently … Continue reading
Possible World Words
Someone mentioned hearing an interview on the radio in which a native Spanish speaker (who was speaking English in the interview) used the word conspiration when referring to conspiracy. Interesting. There is no word in any English dictionary for the … Continue reading
Posted in Word Formation, Word Usage
Tagged language change, matrix, morphology, word formation rules
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What’s up with up
The word ‘up’ in English has many uses and functions: it occurs as an adverb (we need to liven up our presentation), a preposition (the mouse crawled up the drainpipe), an adjective (the mood was definitely up at the meeting), … Continue reading
Posted in language change, Word Formation
Tagged prepositional meaning, word formation, word meaning
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Words without Pictures
A lot of lists get published on blogs and twitter feeds. The 10-item list seems to be especially popular: the 10 things you need to know before the market opens each day, the 10 stupid mistakes made when pitching to … Continue reading
Word Travels 