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stranger
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If a '-phobe' fears something and a '-phile' loves it, what'd be the suffix for someone who merely dislikes it please?
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Though it's not a suffix, a misliker is one who dislikes
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and, I suppose, a disliker is one who mislikes?!
-joe (I suffer from phobologophobia) friday
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Sugbad, wish I could help you, but I'm not knowledgeable enough; welcome, though!
phobologophobia Fear of shedding light on words?
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>phobologophobia Fear of shedding light on words?
wouldn't that be summat like photologophobia?
-joe (nothing to fear but fear itself) friday
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stranger
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stranger
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Thanks all. I've been sent a link to a Suffix Dictionary but what I actually need would be the same thing in reverse, as it's much too big to sift through: one wouldn't flick through a normal dictionary, starting from A, to find out what the black-and-white stripy horse is called, eh?
By the way, I'm quite prepared to invent a word for it, if that's necessary. I've been pondering on this for some time - at one time I thought the suffix might be '-mach', but a) I can't remember why and b) I recall deciding that'd be wrong.
Someone better educated than I am (that'd be most people) tells me that I need to find someone well versed in Greek.... but I fear that Archaic Greek might be nearer the mark.
Thanks anyway
S the B
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I've been pondering on this for some time - at one time I thought the suffix might be '-mach', but a) I can't remember why and b) I recall deciding that'd be wrong.
I know of no suffix -mach in English or Classical Greek. Some words end in -mach, as in in stomach (from Greek, via Latin, στομαχος (stomakhos) 'gullet' fr. στομα (stoma) 'mouth', you can see that the m belongs to the original word/root, and that -akhos is some kind of diminutive suffix), and there are some words that are compounds from Greek that come from an original makhē 'battle' (e.g., theomachy 'war of the gods' fr. Gk θεομαχια (theomakhia)).
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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stranger
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stranger
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Funny you should say that, zmjezhd, as I've been browsing the aforementioned Suffix Dictionary and have found this:
-MACHY n combining form -ES [Gk -machia, fr. mache battle, fight <fr. machesthai to battle, fight) + -ia -y] : warfare : contest between or by means of (logomachy)
...which clearly has nothing to do with what I'm looking for. There's nothing for '-math', either, which came to mind after I read your post as a possible skew in my memory but which I thought possible.
Browsing further down I had cause to slap my forehead in annoyance when I came across:
MIS- or MISO- combining form Gk, fr. misein to hate + misos hatred : hatred (misogynic) (misoneism) (misosophy)
...of course, misanthrope etc., maybe I should be looking for a prefix instead? But even with that we're still in Hatred territory, whereas I'm looking for mere dislike. I don't really hate very much: but there are loads of things which **** me off a bit!
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stranger
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stranger
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Note to self: when I edit my text I should read it over before pressing 'Submit'. Sorry about that.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I think the best suffix as an answer to your question is -phobe itself. While it may derive from a literal fear of something, in common use it also means simply an aversion or a dislike. Whether the user means to imply that the aversion is the result of an actual phobia -- the politically-charged term "homophobia" comes to mind -- is up to the user I guess. Applying -phobe to everyday objects seems a bit like overkill in any case. Is our current POTUS a broccoliphobe or does he simply not care for broccoli. As for myself, I am definitely an okraphobe. Indeed, I fear the okra.
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