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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Someone PM'ed me today and used this word: eruditeness. Though it is perfectly correct, it somehow struck me as awkward; dunno why. For a second, I thought it should be erudity, but that's not right! So, I looked it up, and thought you-all might find this interesting, as I did:
er'u·dite'ness n.
WORD HISTORY One might like to be erudite but hesitate to be rude. This preference is supported by the etymological relationship between erudite and rude. Erudite comes from the Latin adjective çrudîtus, “well-instructed, learned,” from the past participle of the verb çrudîre, “to educate, train.” The verb is in turn formed from the prefix ex–, “out, out of,” and the adjective rudis, “untaught, untrained,” the source of our word rude. The English word erudite is first recorded in a work possibly written before 1425 with the senses “instructed, learned.” Erudite meaning “learned” is supposed to have become rare except in sarcastic use during the latter part of the 19th century, but the word now seems to have been restored to favor.
From Atomica (AHD 2000).
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
eruditeness
I prefer erudicity.
Repectfully yours,
H. Dumpty
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is it just me, or does Jackie have the etymons for erudite starting with a c with a cedilla? That can't be right.
Bingley
Bingley
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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çrudîtus, “well-instructed, learned,” from the past participle of the verb çrudîre, “to educate, train.”
And herein seems to lie some more oxymoronological etymology:
Whence crude and crud?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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On a T-shirt - made me laugh -
"Eruditer than thou"
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Love the t-shirt slogan, wow.
I would say that erudition is the process of becoming erudite and eruditeness is the quality of being so.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The character that got transmorgrified(C) to a c-cedilla was an e with a macron over it in the original.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a macron, obvious now you mention it
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Erudition is a 'state of being' as well as a 'process'... it all depends on what you *have to say about it.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Yipes--sorry, people--I didn't even notice! I normally check my own words for typos; I don't check for changes when I do a straight copy--it simply doesn't occur to me. Faldage, you were right--thank you. (And, I wouldn't have known what to call the macron.)
Good explanation, Dubdub--right on the money, in my book.
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