|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456 |
Even if not the case, it may be more tolerable to consider it derived from 'faximile', as CONX could possibly be created from 'connexion'. At least FAX is far less irksome than "shopaholic" in today's word, just another knee-jerk term invented without logic. One might wonder where the 'hol' in it comes from and decide that it should mean "a drunk who shops too much".
ÅΓª╥┐↕§
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
The hol came from alcoholic. It's common enough for words at times to be reanalysed morphologically, and then one of the morphemes to be reused. Cf. -gate as a suffix, the n from the following word being fused to the preceding indefinite article, (e.g., an adder, an apron), the non-etymological d in admiral or h in author. It's a common enough process. You might as well ask where the al in alcohol came from. It's the definite article in Arabic, not a part of the word the Spanish borrowed. Yet, no grammar mavens rail against the al in alcohol and say, like the hoi in hoi polloi, that one shouldn't say the alcohol.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,788 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,788 Likes: 2 |
...not to mention "the La Brea tar pit" in California...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Not to mention "the The New York Times," he said hoitilly.
Listen, do you suppose the 'gate' morpheme(?) has help or harmed business at the (hideous) Water?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Quote:
Not to mention "the The New York Times," he said hoitilly.
Where have you heard that?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 427 |
Quote:
You might as well ask where the al in alcohol came from. It's the definite article in Arabic, not a part of the word the Spanish borrowed. Yet, no grammar mavens rail against the al in alcohol and say, like the hoi in hoi polloi, that one shouldn't say the alcohol.
We borrowed the whole thing, article and all. Not only for this one, but for a couple thousand others too... I guess this could be because in Arabic script the article is attached to the word, so it all looks like one unit.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
But when we are naming baseball players we on occasion break the al off. Just ask that wonderful base runner Al Kaline. Too bad he wasn't a pitcher or catcher, because then he might have been part of a battery.
TEd
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 456 |
Here is an excerpt from an obscure work (not quoted because it is original): “Workaholic” is another prize winner. Where does the ‘hol’ part come in, does anyone else wonder? Should not this piece of buffoon lingo really apply to a drunk who works too much? And wouldn’t that same (un)reasoning make someone with ESP a Psychoholic?
ÅΓª╥┐↕§
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557
addict
|
|
addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 557 |
Quote:
...And wouldn’t that same (un)reasoning make someone with ESP a Psychoholic?
Only if your definition of an alcoholic is someone with alchohol. 
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,706
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
197
guests, and
51
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
