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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Grammatolatry #178220 07/21/2008 4:39 PM Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 2 Chip Prince stranger Chip Prince stranger Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 2 What a useful word! It so aptly describes — well, I won't go there, or this will become a discussion of religion and politics! At first I wondered if there weren't maybe too many syllables in the word (and that perhaps it could be "grammolatry," but then I realized that the base is the Greek *plural*, which gives us the -ata ending. Although in English we refer to "the letter of the law," it is thoughtless attention to the *letters* strung together in a sentence that this word describes: Letters without spirit. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Grammatolatry Chip Prince #178221 07/21/2008 7:06 PM Joined: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 Texas - USA JGS stranger JGS stranger Joined: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 Texas - USA So Anu, does this make you a High Priest of Grammatolatry and we readers of Word A Day your congregation ;)? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Grammatolatry JGS #178223 07/21/2008 7:55 PM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Zed Pooh-Bah Zed Pooh-Bah Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Nah, High priests don't have this much fun playing with their idols. ummm, I hope. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Grammatolatry Zed #178225 07/21/2008 8:06 PM Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Buffalo Shrdlu Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 7,210 Vermont well, idol play is the devil's handwork. or something. formerly known as etaoin... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Grammatolatry Chip Prince #178226 07/21/2008 11:00 PM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803  Originally Posted By: Chip Prince At first I wondered if there weren't maybe too many syllables in the word (and that perhaps it could be "grammolatry," but then I realized that the base is the Greek *plural*, which gives us the -ata ending. Not really. The nominative singular might be gramma but the root is grammat- and it shows up in all the other cases, singular and plural. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Romanes eunt domus Faldage #178227 07/21/2008 11:46 PM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh and it shows up in all the other cases It's a neuter noun, so the nominative and accusative singular are both gramma, while the other cases use the stem grammat as Faldo says. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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