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From Bruce Boettcher:
First, let us suggest that any readers who would like to discuss this further consider going to http://www.takeourword.com/blog1 and posting your comments to the new Take Our Word For It blog. You'll see our (TOWFI staff's) entries, including an entry regarding this issue of the webzine (Issue 200). Any discussion regarding this issue, including regarding this particular letter, can be posted there. Of course, you may also write us via e-mail and see if we post your reply in next issue's Sez You column. In the future you may access the blog from the table of contents in our home page. Now to Bruce Boettcher's letter. The word usage as a noun dates back to the 14th century, and our sense is recorded in the late 17th century. The plural form dates from 1473. We do agree that one should be careful in using the plural form, however. Fruitages dates from the 17th century. So the practice has been around for a while. As for other -age endings, especially the ones you cite (garage, message), the ending was attached in French or other Romance languages, not English. Package is the exception and was formed in English from pack + -age, though it dates from the 16th century. Garage and message were never collective nouns, per se. Garages and messages have always been correct. Package, on the other hand, was originally the name of a privilege of the City of London, and in that sense it was not pluralized, but when the word came to refer to the items that were the subject of the privilege (packages of cloth and other goods), the plural form arose. Also, it is not formed from the noun pack but from the verb. As an aside, the gar- in garment does not come from the same root as the gar- in garage. But we'll save that discussion for another time. We're pleased that you enjoy the site! |
From Zayd Abdulla:
Yes, do check out the BBC's site about their Word Hunt. We intend to submit our ideas on a few words. |
From Sandy Staat:
As tidy as that sounds, it is unfortunately not the source of the insect's name. The word butterfly has been around since Old English was spoken, but the milkweed is a New World plant, and, as recent genetic research shows, the monarch butterfly evolved in the New World, too and only spread to other parts of the world after the European entry into North America and the spread of milkweed out of the New World. |
From Camille (not Kamille):
Well, in the "Konfident Kids" example, clearly the idea is to provide some visual alliteration, though that doesn't make it any cuter. We agree that this is an overused advertising device. The Z and X usages are also annoying, we agree, but we can only hope they are both simply fads, much like purposefully misspelling words was a fad in the mid-19th century. |
From Bill Clark:
Well, doable dates from 1449 in the written record, believe it or not! Reachable turns up in 1633. As we mentioned in this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, it is human nature to, perhaps on the spur of the moment, create a word using a pattern that exists in other words. We know that adding -able to the end of the word will create a new word that, though perhaps clumsy, will get our point across more quickly and efficiently than searching for an existing word. Yes, as curmudgeons we don't always like that, but such is life! |
From M. Lamb:
Thanks for the clarification. Someone else pointed that out (and his letter is posted in Issue 185) but he did not provide links as you did! |
From Lynn Case:
We don't really have a response to that except that you might be amazed what people and organizations don't know about themselves. Do you know where your surname comes from? We know what some of the possibilities are: that it is English and was the name for a box maker or chest maker (from case "container"); that it is Provençal and related to the Spanish/Italian surname Casa "house," thought to have applied to those living in the best house in the village (the English surname House is said to have arisen in the same manner*); or that it is the Italian name for a cheese maker or seller. As for vegetarian, we researched and attempted to find the earliest occurrence of the word and analyze its context. We found that the word first turns up in 1839 in the U.S. (while the Vegetarian Society was founded in England). We do not know what the Vegetarian Society did to come up with its explanation of the word's origin, but they clearly did not go back beyond 1847, which is the date they claim they invented the word. However, we will not argue with the assertion (though not made by you) that the Vegetarian Society popularized the word. *as in Dr. Gregory House of the U.S. television series House starring English actor Hugh Laurie (he does a superb American accent!). |
From Michael Sousa:
No we weren't. When we said "genders" we meant "genders". If you would like to investigate Old English in more depth, the University of Calgary offers an excellent course online. If you just want to read up on the five genders (weak feminine, strong feminine, weak masculine, strong masculine and neuter), you could skip to the relevant lesson. |
Or read the last issue to see what all of these people are talking about! |
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Last Updated
01/30/06 07:27 PM