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enthusiast
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I just bought myself a very nifty necklace: it's a small level on a chain. Now everyone can tell at a glance how off-balance I am. But it got me wonderin': why are things UNbalanced instead of IMbalanced? And why do we talk of IMbalance instead of UNbalance? You'd think we could use the same prefix for both! (Well, maybe if you're more level-headed, you wouldn't think so, but I do.)
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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i guess its good that its a necklace and not some sort of hair pin-- you wouldn't want people to think you didn't have your head on straight-- or that you weren't leval headed..
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Joined: Mar 2000
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old hand
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old hand
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Can't think of answers, boronia. First guess was that imbalance might refer to people and unbalance to things. But it doesn't seem to hold up consistently.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Imbalance = a comparison between entities -vs- unbalanced = a single entitie's internal struggle? 
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newbie
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newbie
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why are things UNbalanced instead of IMbalanced?
"Imbalance" is a lack of balance while "unbalance" is the absence of balance.
You can usually correct for an "imbalance". If you become "unbalanced", you are headed for a fall.
Curious that we can mobilize troops but not unmobilize them. We have to disband them or perhaps demobilize them.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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and debalance? 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Curious that we can mobilize troops but not unmobilize them. We have to disband them or perhaps demobilize them.
Hence, the military slang verb "demob".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Not adding anything to the topic ... just a comment to say I LOVE your necklace. It is really original. Is the level made of metal or wood?
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old hand
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old hand
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The prefixes un- and in- (leading to im) are cognate according to the OED, but they reached the English language by different (germanic vs. latin) paths. Due to this, as it often happens, each carved out its niche. Again according to OED, imbalance was "Orig. a technical term in Ophthalmology", which then took on a more general use, my guess is because -mb- is less demanding for the tongue than -nb-.
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enthusiast
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OP
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thanks, belM -- the glass cylinder of the level is in a silver casing - no wood
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