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Joined: Nov 2005
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 6 |
Not every coined word shows evidence of clear thinking.
One of my pet peeves is "homophobia".
The prefix homo, in most cases, means same; as in homosexual.
So homophobia should mean fear of one's own kind, the exact opposite
of what the coiners intend it to mean.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
Hi Stevo and welcome.
RE: homophobia, my guess is that it's based on the abbreviated (and typically pejorative) form of "homosexual," homo.
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2002
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Yeah, StevoStranger, although I know that Alex has the derivative, (although I don't understand it to be pejorative) I think that the combination of "homo" meaning "man" and "phobia" meaning "fear of" is semantically stupid.
But language cares not for logic, language cares only for function.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
without other comment, here is the AHD:
homophobia
SYLLABICATION: ho·mo·pho·bi·a
NOUN: 1. Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men. 2. Behavior based on such a feeling.
ETYMOLOGY: homo(sexual) + –phobia.
OTHER FORMS: homo·phobe —NOUN
homo·phobic —ADJECTIVE
there are 20 other sources at OneLook to choose from.
-joe (just the facts) friday
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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TEd
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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Quote:
Aren't all words coined?
No, some are struck.
-- Dept. of Public Decency
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Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
Speaking of coining, there are many concepts for which no word has ever been coined. Frequently someone comes up with one in a new thread, whereupon contributors unsuccessful attempt to find exactly the right word. Many come close but of course nobody hits it on the head because there isn't one By coincidence, here's an example from WW: http://www.wordwizard.com/ch_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18756If anyone has a list of other such concepts for which no synonym exists or would like to start a thread soliciting such expressions, I sincerely invite him to do so
Last edited by dalehileman; 02/28/06 11:13 PM.
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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God love Bill Gates
God DOES love Bill Gates. The fact that young William attended an Episcopal prep school is not a precondition to that divine love ... but it can't hurt.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
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Father: If God exists, and if She has feelings, I'm sure She loves Steve Jobs more than Bill Gates
But if Bill attended a parochial school, I'm sure She doesn't hold it against him
dalehileman
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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