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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
Ovary. Wow. I'd never made that connection before.
Thanks, tsuwm.
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500
addict
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addict
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 500 |
stationary.
I've always liked the "stationary, stationery" pair. There was a "B.C." comic strip I liked where one of the characters has a store with a sign that says "Stationary" and another character remarks that it hasn't moved.
Of course, stationery is what one buys from a stationer, or where one finds a stationer. I suppose the stationer is then stationary....
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
There's always the old story about the very handsome young lawyer who was camping in the Maine woods. One day he decided to write some letters and went to the local general store. He asked the beautiful young lady who was running the store, "Do you keep stationery?"
She giggled and replied, "Yes, until the last few seconds, then I get really wild."
TEd
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Date: Mon Oct 14 00:01:06 EDT 2002
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hapax legomenon
X-Bonus: There are two kinds of fools: One says, "This is old, therefore it is good"; the other says, "This is new, therefore it is better." -William R. Inge, clergyman, scholar, and author (1860-1954)
hapax legomenon (HAY-paks li-GOM-uh-non) noun, plural hapax legomena
A word or form that has only one recorded use.
[From Greek hapax (once) + legomenon, from legein (to say).]
"Linda Tripp, the faithless friend, says to Monica Lewinsky about the President, `Right now I think he's a schwonk.' This qualifies as what biblical exegetes call a hapax legomenon, the only known use in print, which makes it difficult to define."
William Safire, Where's the Poetry?, The New York Times, Nov 1, 1998.
"The entire Song of Songs is a hapax legomenon of its own, the Blochs say. It is unique in both the Old and New Testaments because it leaves out God entirely. It never mentions Israel as a people or a nation. It is free of any talk of sin. And it is the only surviving example of secular love poetry from ancient Israel. Why such a romantic poem found its way into the biblical canon is something of a mystery."
Laurie Goodstein, Translators Find Sensuality in Bible's `Song of Songs',
The Minneapolis Star Tribune, Feb 21, 1998.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
I prolly posted this here afore; but.
[excerpt from Jesse S. email]
>can you explain to me the difference
> between a nonce-word and a hapax legomenon?
A hapax legomenon--the term is normally used only in reference to dead languages--it a word or form that is found only once in a given corpus (an entire language, the works of a particular author, etc.). That's it--there's no other implication here about its use. Often the assumption is that the word could have been more common but the one example is all we have. Note that the reoccurrence of the word in criticism doesn't change its status; that is, if you say "so-and-so is a hapax in Shakespeare", your use of "so-and-so" does not mean that you now have another example in English and it's no longer a hapax.
A nonce-word is generally used to mean a word coined for a specific occasion, with the implication that it's not likely to be used again or outside a very limited range. While nonce-words _can_ become widespread, the assumption is that they won't.
hth.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
All right, all right; dag nab it, you never let me have any fun... [grumble] 
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 4
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 4 |
Talking about "frictionary"...I publish a blog that is called "The Frictionary". It's a weekly post of quotations that might stimulate thinking (friction produces heat) or even rub you the wrong way (friction could also chafe). Take a look for yourself at http://www.frictionary.blogspot.com
Last edited by levek; 11/05/05 08:34 PM.
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