Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 141
W
member
OP Offline
member
W
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 141
Why do we have so much negativity around us? Open a newspaper, watch the TV,
listen to the radio and you find nothing but negative words. Ever wonder why
some words almost always appear in their negative forms? It is completely
evitable, as the words for the next five days prove. This week's AWAD
presents words that are scrutable and a quick peek in the dictionary shows
that these are licit formations. Use these words in your writing for a gainly
touch, a couth appearance. I hope you feel gruntled with this week's theme.



Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1
F
stranger
Offline
stranger
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1
I had this very strange feeling at the first AWAD this week. That sort of "is someone reading my mind" feeling. OVer the last couple weeks my friends and I have been swapping humourous non-negative forms of words. We have become very 'gruntled' about the whole affair. So this week's topic is immensely timely and entertaining. I shall be very 'chalant' in my appreciation of the coming words.

Matthew Clarke


Matthew Clarke
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
here's some from a list I've been dragging around for a while:
nocent, effable, gruntle, peccable, scrutable, delible, ciplinary, defatigible*, gainly, sipid, couth, consolate, ertia, eptitude, pensible, parage...

NB - enigma has a suggestion for every one of these, which makes me feel good about the list.
*defatigible = fatigible

Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
OH tsuwm--
In reply to:

here's some from a list I've been dragging around for a while:


I see you as a first cousin to father time..laden with words strung together on a gossimer lines of ink: some all neatly bundleds, other escaping, spilling down trailing behind you-- at first glance, you look burdened by the words--disorderly with your bundles, but look again, you are so light, you step from cloud to cloud...and the words have neatly sorted themselves into nouns, or verbs, in alphabetical order...


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
neatly bundleds, other escaping, spilling down trailing behind you-- at first glance, you look burdened by the words--disorderly with your bundles, but look again, you are so light,

Good heavens--Tsuwm is Santa Claus??


Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Oh no, Santa Claus is "Thomas Nast"-- round, red cheeked and cheery!–and not unknown for drinking coke–Tsuwm I see as more a gaunt, wiry figure-- and solomn- but not stern. (His words would betray him... tucked into the folds of his robes {a black professor's gown} and just peaking out, would be words like ‘merkin'– ‘nuf said..)

It was the idea of "dragging around a list of words.."

I sometimes feel like a bag lady– with a treasure trove of words– stashed, here and there, some look worthless, and like junk, but I refuse to abandon them.. So I keep hauling the about...

I might not be rich, but I have these treasures....


Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1
F
FMD Offline
stranger
Offline
stranger
F
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1
Microsoft Office doesn't recognize vincible as a valid word...Freudian slip?

And neither does the spell checker of this board!!!!


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Welcome, FMD. I got curious after your post: Gurunet
brought up vincible, just fine. If you haven't read very far back, you may not know that our spell-checker's name is
Enigma. Very appropriate, in all meanings of the term.


Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2
L
stranger
Offline
stranger
L
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 2
When I was 10 or 11, I used the word "ruly" in a school paper and got into an argument with the teacher, who claimed it was not a valid word. I still like the word, however, and wonder, if "gruntled" and "vincible" pass as valid, why not "ruly"?

Laura in CT


Laura in CT
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
ruly is really a word, although archaic. W3 claims it is a back-formation from unruly and not the root though (which is pretty interesting, given their etymology for unruly!).


Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 444 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5