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#11425 12/04/00 02:00 PM
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Dunno about the origins of the use of Junior, but certainly the British Public Schools had a 'minor' (followed by Tertius? and Quartus?) to show younger brothers who were going through the same school as their elders. See, in The Complete Stalky & Co (Rudyard Kipling), the story with Mr Browning, Uncle Remus and Minor and Tertius running on the sands before 'Pot' Mullins' ash... (Wish I could remember the title of the story. It'll come to me.)


#11426 12/04/00 04:30 PM
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>our Sovereign Lord Henry Eighth

How interesting, One was aware that our Sovereign Lord Henry Eighth had developed a particularly fine system for the numbering of one's wives but one didn't realise that he had made a comparible contribution in the numbering of monarchs. Marvellous.

Would one be so kind as to provide one with furhter references so one can pursue the matter at one's leisure?


#11427 12/04/00 05:04 PM
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One was aware that our Sovereign Lord Henry Eighth had developed a particularly fine system for the numbering of one's wives

He also had a particularly fine system for ridding himself of them ...



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
#11428 12/04/00 05:33 PM
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expecting mail of a private nature

True - my initials are A.K. to my Dad's D.A., and we both live in Welsh houses with a name beginning Croes-y-forwyn...
But postie doesn't get confused too much - after all, he's a twin to our relief postman, and we're more likely to confuse them!

But I see no problem with noun verbing, tsuwm - it's surely a natural process of elision. Telephoning? and yes, definitely minuting: it is often used to draw attention in a meeting to a statement that is required as a formal declaration, such as "Mr Mayor, I would like it minuted that I was not doing any such thing - and anyway, it was my own goat!"


PS: the house name translates roughly as Cross of the Virgins - the name of the village is the impossible-looking EGLWYSWRW, but try rendering the W as U, and you can see the similarity to BelM's word for Church, thus betraying the Latin root of quite a bit of later Welsh.


#11429 12/04/00 05:51 PM
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tsuwm Offline OP
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>But I see no problem with noun verbing, tsuwm - it's surely a natural process of elision.

well sure, if there's a gaping hole, just waiting to be filled. what I find objectionable is words such as (to return to an earlier example which cropped up here) *productize*...


#11430 12/04/00 06:19 PM
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Yes. I entirely agree, tsuwm. In the example of "to minute", I think it forms a useful enough shortcut for "to formally record the exact sense of..."

My only trouble in gauging this kind of formation is that I end up having to refer only to my personal (and doubtless idiosyncratic) sense of euphony to guide me in what is good, bad or indifferent. But maybe that is the best guide?


#11431 12/04/00 06:39 PM
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tsuwm Offline OP
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okay, here's an example we could try for size. in our staff meetings we typically have two separate activities going on: 1) the taking of minutes; i.e., the recording of status, ideas, etc; and 2) the recording of action items; i.e., things that need to happen by a specified date in the future. you might have one person recording both, but the second gets some kind of emPHAsis. if we call the first minuting what should we call the second? actioning? actionating?! [ptooey]

I'm afraid we resort to "take an action".


#11432 12/04/00 06:47 PM
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Yep, this is a problem for me too. I have frequently come across "to action" in business minutes as shorthand for "to place under an imperative order to achieve an outcome". I think it is ugly, and probably unnecessary. But others may feel it is a simple and useful word, perhaps?

This is one of the rare times in my life when I feel there are too many minutes in the day


#11433 12/04/00 09:21 PM
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In our meetings we have someone who takes notes and draws up a "to do" list. I am sure this is quite a common term. Usually, the items on the to do list have a critical path attached to them (the steps to follow and date restrictions et al)


#11434 12/05/00 03:40 PM
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Hey, you! Why didn't you wipe your feet before taking a walk?

Those are the ugliest shoes I've ever seen.

Watch it, buster, you just stepped on another crack!





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