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Joined: Apr 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
"Other days, when it seems clear that what I'm spreading is nonnative vegetation and disease, they've chased me away with canoe paddles; they've even suggested to me, through gestures and grimacing, that colonizing might be a funny way to express one's love."
nonnative.. hmmm.. [plugs it into OneLook]
nonnative
1) [adj] not native 2) [n] someone who is not a native
[palm-to-forehead emoticon]
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
anyways, from the same source:
"I have loved him like a scalpel."
It's unclear at this time if this refers to how a scalpel loves or to how one would love a scalpel.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
well, I saw this today: a spy balloon that a US company is launching to surveil the border and I know, it's a word, but.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
[palm-to-forehead emoticon]
Yeah, I read it first time through as NON uhtive.
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 956 |
Yeah, I read it first time through as NON uhtive.
Me too. It was the 'Colonising' that helped me Second time around.
It certainly ain't the 'normative'
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Ah, for the want of a hyphen...
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Ah, for the love of Ivy...
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Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,773 |
well, I saw this today: a spy balloon that a US company is launching to surveil the border and I know, it's a word, but. A usage something parallel with "to tase"
dalehileman
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
Taser is from the acronym Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle coined from a Tom Swift novel of 1911 Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle ( link). I wonder if Tom's electric rifle was based on Captain Nemo's electric weapon. Back formations are quite common in English. They help to fill gaps in the lexicon and grow the language. Tase, liaise, burgle, orientate, babysit, etc.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
[palm-to-forehead emoticon]
Yeah, I read it first time through as NON uhtive. I read it that way too. But when you read it first did you associate it with any real meaning? I thought at first it had to do with nonna, grandmother, grandmother-like.
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