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#19590 02/18/01 10:37 PM
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howdy Offline OP
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Hello,

Can anyone tell me the correct usage of the word "supple" ? I understand it means flexible, adaptable,etc. Can you use it in the form "If you don't exercise regularly, you tend to become less supple".

My friend says that it can only be used for inanimate objects. Is that true ?

Thanks.


#19591 02/19/01 12:13 AM
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Dear howdy: My dictionary say....." a supple body."


#19592 02/19/01 08:53 AM
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jmh Offline
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I'd agree with wwh. We tend to talk about dancers and athletes being supple.


#19593 02/19/01 09:53 AM
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"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -
Pray, what is the reason for that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, " as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling the box -
Allow me to sell you a couple!"

Lewis Carol, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland


#19594 02/19/01 04:03 PM
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old hand
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I think I would be inclined to say that their bodies are supple. That is, "Dancers have supple bodies" but not "Dancers are supple". This also holds in the poem example above. Maybe just a personal preference?


#19595 02/19/01 04:31 PM
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In my meandering thoughts, I've always wondered what etymological connection there might be between "supple", "supply", and "supplicate". Heck, why not throw in "supper" to make it a real challenge? Can you hear me, tsuwm?


#19596 02/19/01 05:00 PM
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At the doctor's office for my annual, she asked how close I could come to touching my toes. I reached down, knees locked, and put my hands flat on the floor!
"My goodness, you're supple!" my MD exclaimed.
True story and not a bad trick for an overweight 72-year-old. Actually I think it has a lot to do with the length of the arms in proportion to the body frame. Many short-armed tall people cannot touch their toes at all.
OK, so my friends have some weird party tricks!
The moral of the story being the use of supple is a personal preference, I think, or perhaps it is used differently in formal speaking than in casual conversation?
wow


#19597 02/19/01 05:25 PM
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supple and supplicant come from the same Latin root, supplic-, supplex suppliant, submissive, bending.
supply belongs to another family; supplere fill up, supplement


#19598 02/19/01 07:08 PM
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howdy Offline OP
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Thanks, all for your help, it certainly helps out.


#19599 02/19/01 07:12 PM
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So does "supper" come from supplere because you're filling yourself up, or from supplic- because you're submitting to it? Or does it all depend on who's cooking?



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