#80976
09/17/2002 9:09 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 6,511 |
... all high school graduates should know, according to our friends at the AHD. How do we measure up? http://makeashorterlink.com/?N2F2213D1
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#80977
09/17/2002 9:50 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
How do we measure up?Not bad at a quick glance, Auntlette - but I have to question many of the choices of our friends at the AHD. I suppose the authority of any list that is meant to help denote "a superior command of the language" is going to be questionable. 
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#80978
09/17/2002 9:52 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Thanks for the link, AnnaS.
Good list--some were surprising because they were not challenging at all (e.g., vortex, soliloquy, hypotenuse)--but a couple of the ones associated with science, for instance, I wouldn't know how to use correctly. Overall, I'd say 95% of them I was very familiar with. About 5% I'd have to fudge on--and probably wouldn't use them correctly (e.g., nanotechnology).
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#80979
09/17/2002 9:58 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
cir·cum·lo·cu·tion = I don't know *about the word, but the concept...
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#80980
09/18/2002 1:05 AM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167
member
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member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167 |
ziggurat - how useful. ( - "Just going off to the ziggurat dear")
jj
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#80981
09/18/2002 8:30 AM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167
member
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member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167 |
there's also a certain irony in a USn site explaining or dealing with the meaning of irony, presumably to other USns. (Who was it who first described the US as an "irony free zone"?)
jj
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#80982
09/18/2002 9:49 AM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Who was it who first described the US as an "irony free zone"?
We use irony. We just call it lying.
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#80983
09/18/2002 10:01 AM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167
member
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member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167 |
a hit ,a very palpable hit...
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#80984
09/18/2002 10:40 AM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I used to think irony was spelled C-A-G-T . But maybe it's u-d-t-b-s-c.
k
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#80985
09/18/2002 1:57 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Epiphany is a word I have to look up repeatedly. Sunday school didn't beat it into me.
Gerrymander is a word of such limited use, only people from Massachusetts should be
expected to know it. Last use I remember is when Barney Franks robbed Margaret Heckler
of a large part of her consttituenecy, thirty years or more ago.
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#80986
09/18/2002 1:59 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
Gerrymandering is alive and well and reasserts itself every ten years.
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#80987
09/18/2002 2:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: I'm glad you didn't ask me to tell about Elbridge Gerry. I'll bet no other member
except a New Englander ever heard of him.
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#80988
09/18/2002 2:11 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
Elbridge Gerry
Pronounced [garry]. That notwithstanding gerrymander is pronounced [jerrymander].
We learned about him in our grammar school history classes in Chicago.
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#80989
09/18/2002 2:15 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: Massachusetts schools are so backward I had to wait until I got into
highschool to learn about Elbridge Gerry.
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#80990
09/18/2002 2:19 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
Dear Dr. Bill
My memory is sloppy enough. It may have been high school. I'm sure I didn't have to wait till I got to Boston to learn about this sterling role model for modern day politicians.
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#80991
09/18/2002 2:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: as a happy result of your needling me (I love it) I looked up Elbridge Gerry in
encyclopedia, and was amazed to find he was Harvard man and Vice President under Madison.
I had grossly under-estimated him. I had also not known pronuncitation of his last name.
(like clerk being pronounced clark). Keep up the good work.
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#80992
09/18/2002 5:12 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
And you, Dr. Bill, keep looking things up, reporting and expanding our knowledge.
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#80993
09/18/2002 5:24 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: twist AS's arm to find us another hundred words.
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#80994
09/18/2002 6:41 PM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
I'll bet no other member except a New Englander ever heard of him.
You would lose that bet, wwh. I fell in love with the word gerrymander back in high school, which was a fair step from New England.
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#80995
09/18/2002 7:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 320 |
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#80996
09/18/2002 7:53 PM
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475
addict
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addict
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475 |
I PASSED!!!!!!!!! I'm not a graduate of high school but I did ace the test, I'm not sure if I would have before I spent half my life on AWAD though. As for gerrymandering, as a regular subscriber to Private Eye, this is a familiar word to me,there was a well publicised incident in London a few years ago which was exposed in the Eye's 'Rotten Boroughs' section. I never knew the etymology though, very interesting.
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#80997
09/18/2002 8:08 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Not a very good picture, but here is a URL with picture from which you can get an idea of how voting district lines were re-drawn suggesting to political cartoonist a salamander-like outline: You have to scroll down at least a third of the way. http://imaginatorium.org/books/maps.htm
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#80998
09/18/2002 9:37 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
dodyskin - Given your day of arrival here at AWAD, that makes you the most orthographical almost-one-year-old I've ever had the pleasure of *seeing. 
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#80999
09/18/2002 9:44 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
And you, Dr. Bill, keep looking things up, reporting and expanding our knowledge.Egad, Tweedlitis is infectious! 
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#81000
09/18/2002 9:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear fishonabike: as an extreme of idiocy, I remind myself of Charlemagne trying in his old
age to learn Latin. I despair of achieving literacy commensurate with my ambition.
How I wish I could read as much as fast as the rest of you can. But it's fun trying
Thank you for your kind words. Bill.
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#81001
09/18/2002 10:04 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 1,346 |
How I wish I could read as much as fast as the rest of you canNot me, Bill - I like cycling 'cos you can take your own time and take in the scenery. But it's fun tryingRespect!
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#81002
09/20/2002 4:25 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Had them read to me and got all but seven - and six were on new blood stuff or geometry that I have forgotten most of. The seventh was sanguine....that was a surprise. The opposite of what Ithought.
Thanks for the list.
Nice work!
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#81003
09/21/2002 4:11 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
wrought (rôt) v. A past tense and a past participle of work.§ adj. 1. Put together; created: a carefully wrought plan. 2. Shaped by hammering with tools. Used chiefly of metals or metalwork. 3. Made delicately or elaborately. [Middle English wroght < Old English geworht, past participle of wyrcan, to work; see werg- in App.]
I always thought "wrought" meant shaped by twisting, and was the past tense of "wring," analogous to "brought/bring."
Whom are we to believe, me or some strange dictionary?
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#81004
09/21/2002 4:31 PM
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>Whom are we to believe, me or some strange dictionary?
<fill-in-the-blank stare>
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#81005
09/21/2002 4:33 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Whom are we to believe, me or some strange dictionary?
You both *make sense given the common US'n use of "wrought iron"... or is this rota irony? [ouch]
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#81006
09/21/2002 4:57 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, well.
NI3 agrees with That Other Dictionary we were just talking about, and says the past tense of "wring" is "wrung."
Wrought means shaped "by artistry or effort," according to them.
Live and learn.
Anybody know what OED says?
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#81007
09/21/2002 5:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
The special thing about wrought iron is that it is made of soft steel, which is
extremely malleable, so smith can show off
by adding decorative twists and bends not possible with cast iron.
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#81008
09/21/2002 5:44 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Anybody know what OED says?
I could care less!
I'm really trying...
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#81009
09/21/2002 7:31 PM
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
>I'm really trying...
But do you manage to be so without really trying?
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#81010
09/21/2002 7:44 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
"I'm really trying."
Why be difficult, when with just a little more offort you can be impossible.
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#81011
09/21/2002 8:06 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 2,661 |
Not that I want to recreate the descript/prescript arguement here... on the contrary. In this case, they both win - whether or not the Omnipotent Exclusionary Dictationers decide to accept its usage. Just think, this could all be a moot pointWho are we to dam wolfaholicodoc's (or my) creative juices?  How long does it take before slang (or dialect) becomes an actual word? I say it's immediate! ------------------- In my office, there's a sign that says "If you're grouchy, irritable or just plain mean, there will be a 10$ charge for putting up with you.
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#81012
09/21/2002 8:11 PM
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,803 |
wring, strong verb of class III: wringan, wrang, (ge)wrungen
work, weak verb of class 1 wyrcan, worhte, worht
worhte, through the magic of metathesis, became wrought.
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#81013
09/21/2002 8:16 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
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#81014
09/21/2002 11:35 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 11,074 Likes: 2 |
work, weak verb of class 1 wyrcan, worhte, worht
worhte, through the magic of metathesis, became wrought.
I understand what you're saying; still, it sounds like witchcraft (for the obvious reason) whenever I read that derivation.
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