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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The gruntled thread reminded me of the word underwhelmed which is used as an ironic statement meaning that one is thoroughly unimpressed with something. I find this a bit of a shame since I find the "true" meaning of underwhelmed to be much more interesting.
The original metaphor is based on the meaning of whelm which involved being covered with water. Being overwhelmed meant being washed away with a deluge. Working on this metaphor, to be underwhelmed should mean to have one's base washed out from under one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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so you were slightly underwhelmed with the whole Word Association Query thread? in both senses, I would guess... 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Another of these developments *we've come to use often is overstand. Whereas understand could mean you "have an information base from which to continue your cognitive process", overstand has been used as either "I already understand the information but it is not relevant in context (even if it may be applicable)" or "I kept the information in mind and it acted as a hinderance to progress"... ...*we're still working on it. 
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addict
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And exactly who are the *we in question, musick? I've never heard overstand used in any way, shape or form. Can you give an example? Even with the meanings you've supplied, I can't fathom how it would be used in conversation.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sounds like the military would scramble to adopt "overstood/stand." As in :
"The Lieutenant ordered the Sergeant to overstand the excercise to be sure it was carried out properly."Later the Sergeant would report : "I overstood the excercise, sir, and all went according to regs."
Wadda ya think?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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nancyk - 'We' are who(m)ever you and I can get to help define it through its use... which *we "gave the time of day" last night.
The only consensus of its use was that "overstanding" is "having more information than is necessary".
---------------
That night, Manjula asks Apu if he's really serious about having children. He is, and they start the fun part of the baby-making process.
The next morning, Apu chills out in the ice cream cooler.
Homer: Hey, Apu! Sitting in the ice cream cooler, eh?
Apu: By chilling my loins, I increase the chances of impregnating my wife.
Homer: Who-o-a! Too much information! Thanks for the mental picture. Why don't you tell us what you *really* think?
Apu: Just stop spouting those hackneyed quips.
Homer: Could you be any more ... hello? [laughs] Look, just give me some ice cream...
[Apu pulls out one of the containers he's been sitting upon]
... Um, how about one not touching your ass?
[Apu gives Homer an ass-free container]
[Apu's beeper goes off]
Apu: Oh! Manjula has begun to ovulate. [gets up and leaves quickly]
Homer: Ew, thanks for sharing...
[Apu drives home - we see his car pass in front of the Kwik-E-Mart]
[yelling after Apu] ...more than I wanted to know!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I would like to thank nancyk for her question. because that was damn funny!
formerly known as etaoin...
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stranger
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stranger
Joined: Jul 2003
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Permit me to add my two pence worth to the continued
battle to master the everchanging English Language.The
language is so full of life that it continues to bend
and accomodate changes over hundreds of years without
ever buckling under the pressure of new words and phrases.
Many years ago while working in construction I heard
a south American brother say to another : Carry come
the hammer...meaning ..bring the hammer. The Rastas
have been known to despise words like Understand ,
Revelation and Eternal . Instead they say Overstand,
Itation and Iternal. These twists are fast becoming
standardised usage and are creeping into novels by
elite novelists . This brings me to the point where
in the early 60's Elvis was running out of songs and
was remaking songs of other artists...they coined the
verb...Elviserate...the remaking of an old song.Hope
I added to the confusion..Long live the English Language.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome aBoard, carambola! If I may say so, your post sounds like you have an interesting history. :-)
"Elviserate"--makes me think of eviscerate!
Musick--did you write that dialogue??
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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yes,welcome carambola, you'll find that half of us here are prescriptives, and half here are descriptives--
but, as for who belongs to which half, that is harder to figure, since we are always changing sides!
by prescriptive/descriptive, i am referring to the idea that dictionaries should prescribe how a words should be used, (set standards, and expect the speakers of english to keep to these standards) vs. thise who think dictionaries should describe how words are actually being used, (how english is actually being spoken, recording the shifts in usage and not presuming there is a right or wrong way)
The word decimate is a fine example of the division- prescriptives think it should retain its old meaning of 10%, descriptives acknowledge the current meaning is 90%.
you sound this moment like a descriptive, but as time passes i am sure we'll find small pockets of resistance to change- we all have them!
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