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Posted By: Bean Don't shoot the messenger! - 02/22/02 06:03 PM
I find it very awkward that MSN Messenger is used to send messages. (Try saying "I'll send you a message on Instant Messenger" 10 times fast!) Apparently "messager" is a word, but obsolete. Are there other words which have had an "n" added to it, and if so, why?

Posted By: Rouspeteur Re: Don't shoot the messenger! - 02/22/02 06:27 PM
How about:

Passage/Passenger

I also propose: Massage/Massenger?

Posted By: Faldage Re: Don't shoot the messenger! - 02/22/02 07:00 PM
Quick etymology check shows the n just snuck in there in ME. The vowel shift seems to be just some sort of random noise phenomenon; a>>e in the case of message/messenger(messanger in ME) from French and i>>e in passenger from Italian.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: Don't shoot the misquoter! - 02/23/02 02:08 AM
The Medium is the Massage

--Marshall McCluhan

Commonly misquoted as, The Medium is the Message...the version I admit that I have often fallen into over the years...it just sounds better.

Posted By: TEd Remington Massage/Massenger? - 02/26/02 08:56 PM
Watch it. You're rubbingt some people the wrong way!

Posted By: Rouspeteur Re: Massage/Massenger? - 02/26/02 10:24 PM
I didn't mean to cause friction. I thought my suggestion would just be dismissed as "rub"ish.

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