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Topic Options #105431 - 06/11/03 11:32 PM Instant Bingley Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/09/00 Posts: 3065 Loc: Jakarta I came across this use of the word instant in the Dryden translation of Plutarch's life of Timoleon (who I must admit I'd never heard of before): But through the care and diligence of his friends, who were very instant with him, and added force to their entreaties, he came to resolve and promise at last, that he would endure living, provided it might be in solitude, and remote from company; so that, quitting all civil transactions and commerce with the world, for a long while after his first retirement he never came into Corinth, but wandered up and down the fields, full of anxious and tormenting thoughts, and spent his time in desert places, at the farthest distance from society and human intercourse. My dictionary does give "urgent, pressing" as one meaning of instant, but it's not a meaning I am familiar with. Bingley _________________________ Bingley Top #105432 - 06/12/03 04:05 AM Re: Instant dxb Pooh-Bah Registered: 03/06/02 Posts: 1692 Loc: UK I have come across it occasionally, always used in that kind of situation (that is, '..his friends were very instant with him..'), and assumed, without checking up, that it had lost its battle with 'insistent'. I feel, though, that 'instant' implied an urgent insistence, usually pressing for some action before it's too late. A professional advisor may be insistent, but perhaps only a friend could get away with being 'instant'. So I think the usage had a value and rather regret its passing. Top #105433 - 06/12/03 08:50 AM Re: Instant wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858 My dictionary gives "5 Archaic - presnt, current" I have seen it used with dates given spelled out, e.g. Friday instant meaning "this Friday". I think the usage you quote would mean his friends were constantly with him. Top #105434 - 06/12/03 08:58 AM Re: Instant Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Registered: 06/24/02 Posts: 7184 Loc: Vermont I wondered about this: (so I looked it up! ) Main Entry: stance Pronunciation: 'stan(t)s Function: noun Etymology: Middle French estance position, posture, stay, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin stantia, from Latin stant-, stans, present participle of stare to stand Date: 14th century 1 chiefly Scottish a : STATION b : SITE 2 a : a way of standing or being placed : POSTURE b : intellectual or emotional attitude <took an antiwar stance> 3 a : the position of the feet of a golfer or batter preparatory to making a swing b : the position of both body and feet from which an athlete starts or operates so, perhaps his friends stand with him. _________________________ formerly known as etaoin... Top Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8428 Members 16 Forums 13687 Topics 209801 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sce, Eva, sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher 8428 Registered Users Who's Online 1 registered (prabakaran), 41 Guests and 1 Spider online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 85 jenny jenny 58 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 50 Rhubarb Commando 37 BranShea 33 Faldage 14 Buffalo Shrdlu 14 zmjezhd 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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