Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 5 >
Topic Options
#86731 - 11/12/02 09:28 AM Preponement?
mph Offline
stranger

Registered: 11/12/02
Posts: 11

A colleague of mine was just asked if they could prepone a meeting i.e. bring it forward.
Is this a legitimate antonym of to postpone or a newly made up nonsense word?


Top
#86732 - 11/12/02 09:43 AM Re: Preponement?
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
prepone - PREPONE. South Asian speakers have evolved the logical word "prepone" to mean
the opposite of "postpone": to move forward in time. ...
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/errors/prepone.html

At first I thought the coinage clumsy, but on second thought, I'm surprised ;it didn't
happen a long time ago.



Top
#86733 - 11/12/02 09:49 AM Re: Preponement?
Sparteye Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 1773
Hello mph. May I call you Miles?

I suspect that "prepone" is a jocular construct akin to the modern use of "couth". Google shows 2,730 hits, but they are mostly non-English sites or apparently the name of a hurtler. Still, there are plenty of instances of "prepone" as you have posited it, and I've used it myself, so it must be a goodly word .

Here is a link to a discussion of prepone when used in the contra-postpone sense: http://theatlantic.com/unbound/fugitives/moveitup.htm

Interestingly, there is an American Sign Language sign for this concept, and the New Oxford Dictionary of English lists it. Also interestingly, I see that our own tsuwm participated in that discussion.


Top
#86734 - 11/12/02 10:54 AM Re: Preponement?
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13659
there is an American Sign Language sign for this concept

Is the ASL of a form that could fit the construction, i.e., with a pone component and a pre component with a corresponding sign for the postpone concept that has a differing post component and an identical pone component?

Are there other words well accepted in English that have pre- and post- forms that I just can't seem to think of off the top of my head?


Top
#86735 - 11/12/02 11:08 AM Re: Preponement?
mph Offline
stranger

Registered: 11/12/02
Posts: 11
Or Mike. Please do - I'm a friendly kinda guy.

Thanks for the replies. It seems to have enough credentials for me to further propogate its usage...


Top
#86736 - 11/12/02 11:28 AM Re: Preponement?
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
Dear Faldage: there are quite a few such pairs. prewar, postwar, etc. But many pre-s and post-s
could be made into word-game candidates. Do you have to be a premistress before you can
become a postmistress?


Top
#86737 - 11/12/02 11:41 AM Re: Preponement?
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13659
Yeahbut®, how about words where the part after the pre/post isn't used all by its lonesome. I've thought of prelude and postlude. We even have interlude, but no lude.


Top
#86738 - 11/12/02 12:32 PM Re: Preponement?
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 01/18/01
Posts: 13858
lude
n.
5< QUAALUDE6 [Slang] a methaqualone pill




Top
#86739 - 11/12/02 01:06 PM Re: Preponement?
AnnaStrophic Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 03/15/00
Posts: 6511
Loc: lower upstate New York
lude

Go get 'im, Dr. Bill!


Top
#86740 - 11/12/02 01:15 PM Re: Ludes
Faldage Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/01/00
Posts: 13659
So prelude is the feeling I get that makes me want to take ludes, postlude is the morning after feeling and interlude is my feeling while still under the influence?


Top
Page 1 of 5 1 2 3 4 5 >


Moderator:  Jackie 
Forum Stats
8431 Members
16 Forums
13688 Topics
209834 Posts

Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM
Newest Members
supermatthias, prabakaran, sce, Eva, sylviasuper
8430 Registered Users
Who's Online
0 registered (), 33 Guests and 1 Spider online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters (30 Days)
LukeJavan8 93
jenny jenny 62
wofahulicodoc 61
endymion6 57
Rhubarb Commando 37
BranShea 31
Faldage 16
Buffalo Shrdlu 15
zmjezhd 13
teepee 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

Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 2013 Wordsmith