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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
My sweet bride, neologist that she is, attempted to slide a word by me last week: "obliviate" She insists that, although it may not be contained in any dictionary, it makes perfect sense and I knew what she meant when she used it. Help!
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
So in what sentence did she use it Father Steve?
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
It *does appear in the Harry Potter Lexicon, and so, all over a galaxy of young sites.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells_o.html
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
So in what sentence did she use it Father Steve?
As we were driving by a site which purported to be a camp used in the early 1800's by First Nations people, there was no indication that anyone had ever lived there. My sweet bride said something like "The successor culture has a way of obliviating the evidence that a prior culture lived upon the land."
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
It *does appear in the Harry Potter Lexicon ...
I gotta pay more attention to what that spouse is reading.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
The successor culture has a way of obliviating the evidence that a prior culture lived upon the land.
Combining "obliterate" and "oblivious"!?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
tis an old word, formerly used in a rather different context:
Now rare.
[< classical Latin oblvium OBLIVIUM n. or oblvin-, oblvi OBLIVION n. + -ATE3. Cf. earlier OBLIVIONIZE v. and slightly earlier OBLIVION v.]
trans. To forget, commit to oblivion.
(I think that musick has it right.)
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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OED cites it from 1661 and 1835-40 (with tsuwm's definition), so I guess it was about due to be used again. Nice to see that it's still alive.
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Nice to see that it's still alive
There must be a mating pair somewhere!
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
Sure is - musick pointed them out, above. 
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