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Wouldn't your definition of relevance to a discussion include as a key point that the contribution be on topic and controlled? But maybe I just haven't quite grasped the nuance of what was in your mind with the question.

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it seems to me that what's wanted is a word like spammer, but with a broader application.

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nonsequitorator.

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Logwood Offline OP
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What tsuwm said.

nonsequitorator? I tried three dictionaries but no avail

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I'm not surprised, Logwood.

Try non sequitur.

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> nonsequitorator


Spammer ~ yes, I can now see the difference being got at - someone might be speaking other than nonsense yet be following only their own agenda rather than contributing to a dialogue.

How about bloviorator, suggested by my brother's neologism?

And btw Logwood, since you like browsing dictionaries have you discovered the rich treasures of tsuwm's project?

Ron Obvious

#151142 11/27/05 04:01 PM
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Latin sequitur is the third person singular present indicative of the deponent verb sequor 'to follow' (hence non sequitur means literally 'it does not follow'). Nomina agentis are usually formed on the the past passive particple form of the verb, e.g., amo 'to love' (actually literally 'I love') has a past passive particple of amatum 'loved', add the nomen agentis suffix and you get amator 'lover' (whence our amateur via French). Deponent verbs are verbs that are passive in construction, e.g., amatur 's/he is loved', but active in meaning, e.g., sequitur means 's/he follows', not 's/he is followed'. There is though a term secutor in Latin which means follower, so you could say something like nonsecutor, which in colloquial English has the unfortune to sound like non sequitur. Plus, that you can't really use non as a prefix. Or that the form should be more like 'a person who says non sequitur'. I think you'd need a word more like the Greek barbaros 'stammerer, barbarian, somebody who can't speak Greek properly'. There are some verbs in Latin that mean prattle, and you might form nomina agentis with them: e.g., crepo 'to creak, rattle; prattle' > crepitor (though the danger with this one is that it could be interpreted as 'farter'), adblatero 'to prattle, chatter' > adblaterator (cf. balteratus 'babbling, prating'), argutor 'to prattle' > argutator (though this has an established meaning of 'subtle disputant').


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
#151143 11/28/05 01:38 PM
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This may be irrelevant, but we had a teacher in 6th grade, Sister Teresa Barnard (TB), who often said, "Empty barrels make the most noise."

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Here's a list; perhaps one of these will do:
list

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Logwood Offline OP
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Heh fascinating list. I should've gave the Reverse Dictionary a try, but I underestimated its quality. Also, I just realized that we're all anglophones.

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