recurring vs. reoccurring

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#50173 - 12/17/01 11:30 AM recurring vs. reoccurring
diborg stranger Registered: 12/17/01 Posts: 4 Loc: Black Hills of SD	The word processing and technical writing software I use both accept reoccurring during a spell check but are unable to find it in their thesauri. The spell check on this fabulous site, however, does not recognize it and recommends reopen as a replacement but also does not recognize thesaurus. No dictionary I have ever referenced contains it, but the software writers and developers I work with have it sprinkled throughout their test plans and GUI, so I want to be absolutely certain this isn't one of those recent, Prohibition-type (it's not going away so let's make it legal) additions to our burgeoning English language. Any leads are appreciated. Thanks much, Diborg P.S. It feels un-word-like and redundant.
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#50174 - 12/17/01 12:46 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10462 Loc: this too shall pass	reoccur, reoccurrence and reoccurring are all probably supererogatory, but have been around since the 1800s.
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#50175 - 12/17/01 01:21 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13653	The spell check on this fabulous site is a thing unto itself and, through the simple expedient of offering the next word in its list when it finds a word not on its list, proceeds to baffle and amuse the denizens of this fabulous site. To me, and without looking anything up recurring would have a connotation of regularity that reoccurring would not. Example: He had recurring dreams of returning to the Navy. If symptoms reoccur see your doctor immediately. For what it's worth, M-W on line, upon being told to look up reoccur gives a whole list of words starting with re- including reoccur but not recur. Incidentally, the spell check (AKA Ænigma) does not spot reoccur as a misspelling. It gets like this sometimes. It doesn't like words ending in 's for example.
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#50176 - 12/17/01 01:57 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
diborg stranger Registered: 12/17/01 Posts: 4 Loc: Black Hills of SD	Thanks, tsuwm and Faldage. Ambiguity is a tech writer's nightmare. Guess I'm reluctant to use words I can't nail down in a word bible. Will check out the site you mention, Faldage, and then toss a coin. ;)
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#50177 - 12/17/01 02:08 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Registered: 04/03/00 Posts: 10462 Loc: this too shall pass	diborg... come back!! here's the infamous AHD usage panel: http://www.bartleby.com/68/35/5035.html
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#50178 - 12/17/01 02:36 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
wwh Carpal Tunnel Registered: 01/18/01 Posts: 13858	I agree with Faldage. Many events happen again, often in a predictable way. For this I would use "recur". But some other things that happen again but do so in an unpredictable way, and for unrelated causes, such as hard disk failure, could be called reoccurrences.
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#50179 - 12/17/01 02:37 PM Re: recurring vs. reoccurring
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13653	AHD Usage Panel Boy, howdy! There's just no pleasing some people. Use the same word for two related meanings (less for both counting and measuring comparisons {nemmine that more does perfectly well for both at the other end of the comparison}) and they act like the Vandals are at the gates. Suggest that one word could be used for one added occurrence and another for repeated occurrences and they're like, "No! Let them in! The Vandals are here to save us!"
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#50180 - 12/17/01 03:13 PM Re: Gothic Vandals
Capital Kiwi Carpal Tunnel Registered: 11/13/00 Posts: 3146 Loc: Northamptonshire, England	... and we just lie back and think of England, truly we do ... _________________________ The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#50181 - 12/17/01 03:25 PM Re: Gothic Vandals
Faldage Carpal Tunnel Registered: 12/01/00 Posts: 13653	we just lie back and think of England, and where England would be today without about three zillion waves of invaders.
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#50182 - 12/17/01 03:36 PM Re: Gothic Vandals
Capital Kiwi Carpal Tunnel Registered: 11/13/00 Posts: 3146 Loc: Northamptonshire, England	and where England would be today without about three zillion waves of invaders. Oh, come on, Faldage! Thats 2.99999999 zillion. Me and 'er indoors is just temp'ry visitors. 'Aven't sacked or pillaged since we got 'ere. Thinking about, it though. Now, how do you sack and pillage an entire bureaucracy? Oh that's right, get elected as a politician! _________________________ The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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