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Joined: Aug 2005
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
a bit different from what happens in conversation all the time
Cuz, online, there's a delusion that the person at your keyboard is in control. I've never been on a forum / email list where threads didn't go off topic, ever.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Quote:
Forums seek their topic.
Yeah, thanks, Bishop Berkeley!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Fr Steve, I want to make it clear that I'm not kvetching; I think it's quite normal that threads should digress! Just sayin' that this one takes the cake -- maybe because there were so many parts of it I was interested in and had commments for that I became easily confused. 
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Unraveling:
Is that when you listen to oreloB?
Actually, I was just thinking about that pair of words the other night and wondering if there were similar words which had the appearance of being opposite one another but were actually synonyms, or if ravel/unravel is unique.
I know, I know. It's probably a YART, but there's also new people who may not have been privy to any such conversation.
Lastly, is there a term for such pairs of words?
But I digress.
TEd
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
1. synonyms for future reference: swerve, depart, deviate, digress, diverge, stray, veer - These verbs mean to turn away from a straight or prescribed course: a gaze that never swerved; won't depart from family traditions; deviated from the original plan; digressed from the main topic; opinions that diverged; strays from the truth; a conversation that veered away from sensitive issues. [AHD] 2. pairwise(!?) words ravel : unravel flammable : inflammable regardless : irregardless  loosen : unloosen generally, affixing in- or un- or dis- in the completely sense makes them stronger than the original; e.g., annul and disannul.
Last edited by tsuwm; 02/16/06 11:01 PM.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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If you say that something is not an option it means you can't take it, If you say it's not optional it means you must.
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
Shame on you Faldage, you play. The isolated term "not-optional" has no negative relationship to the sentence construction..."that is not an option". Mind your semantics. We have people here who think you are the Queen (so to speak) of the King's English). 
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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..but one does run out of room in the subject box. and besides, who amongst us doesn't irregularly read the subject?!
BTW, I should have noted that the *original sense of unravel was disentangle.
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Actually, I would say loosen, flammable, and regardless, but for some unknown reason I would use unravel and not ravel. Even though the bard used ravel IIRC. I can't hink of a situation where I would use unloosen, inflamabble, or (especially) irregardless, the latter being a word that always stimulates my gag reflex.
TEd
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