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stranger
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Today's word, Gadarene, means "A headlong rush" but in the example useage it says
"Research from Greenwich Associates has identified a Gadarene rush by Japanese financial institutions into hedge funds."
Wouldn't this mean "a headlong rush rush" and should it just read "A gadarene by Japanese fincancial..."?
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Wouldn't this mean "a headlong rush rush"?
I thought about that myself, JakeChance, when I did my "Gadarene" ALAD this morning.
Merrima-Webster defines "gadarene" thus:
HEADLONG, PRECIPITATE <a gadarene rush to the cities
gad·a·rene [ gáddə rn ]
And from Encarta, we get:
fast and without thinking: rushing headlong en masse (literary )
In both cases, "gadarene" is an adjective.
Note that Anu describes "gadarene" in his AWAD as a noun, but Anu is confusing the noun "Gadarene" with the adjective "gadarene".
Dictionary.com shows "Gadarene" [with a capital "G"] as an alternate form of the place name "Gadara".*
One doesn't have to couple the adjective "gadarene" with the noun "rush" although that coupling appears to be ubiquitous.
One could say "The retreat was gadarene" meaning it was "fast and unthinking".
Or one could say "a gadarene plunge", for instance, "a gadaren plunge into chaos".
Therefore, it seems "gadarene" describes the character of the "rush", namely, a "rush" which is "fast and unthinking". It is not the "rush" itself.
The confusion arises because, for some reason, all the dictionaries couple the adjective "gadarene" with the noun "rush" in the definition of "gadarene" or in their example of usage.
I used "gadarene rush" in my ALAD this morning because the two words seem to be locked together in common usage and "gadarene push" would have sounded awkward.
Besides, "push" doesn't rhyme with "rush". :)
* Dictionary.com Gad·a·ra
An ancient city of Palestine southeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was one of the Greek cities of the Decapolis.
Gada·rene (gd-rn, gd-rn) adj. & n.
NOTE: Dictionary.com identifies "Gadarene" with a capital "G" as an "adj. & n." but it does not define the adjective. And it doesn't identify the adjective as a separate word without the capital "G".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Welcome aBoard, Jake; nice to have you. I think you're right. I have looked up the word and found these ref.'s:
gad·a·rene [ gáddə rn ]
adjective
fast and without thinking: rushing headlong en masse ( literary )
[Early 19th century. Via Latin < Greek Gadarēnos "inhabitant of Gadara," town in the Bible where a herd of swine rushed into the sea (Matthew 8:28)]
(Encarta® World English Dictionary)
Gadarene
/gaddreen/
• adjective involving or engaged in a headlong or disastrous rush.
— ORIGIN Greek Gadarenos ‘inhabitant of Gadara’, with reference to the story in the Gospel of Matthew of the swine that rushed down a steep cliff into the sea and drowned.
(Compact Oxford English Dictionary)
2 entries found for gadarene.
gadareneGadara
Main Entry: gad·a·rene
Pronunciation: 'ga-d&-"rEn
Function: adjective
Usage: often capitalized
Etymology: from the demon-possessed Gadarene swine in Matthew 8:28 that rushed into the sea
: HEADLONG, PRECIPITATE <a gadarene rush to the cities>
(M-W Online)
Gad·a·ra ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gdr-)
An ancient city of Palestine southeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was one of the Greek cities of the Decapolis.
------------------------------------------------------------
Gada·rene (gd-rn, gd-rn) adj. & n.
(AHD)
It seems to boil down to being used as an adjective vs. as a noun. I personally find it simpler to think of the noun as meaning a person from Gadara. I am not familiar with the word, but I can't help thinking it would sound funny to say someone did or made a gadarene.
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stranger
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Thanks for the responses. I now have a new word to correctly use in my vocabulary (provided my memory works for more than a week). One last question, what is a ALAD (I assume A L____ A Day)?
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Hi, Jake. A lot of people posted about gadarene! Did you see the posts over at Weekly Themes? Anyway, welcome to the madhouse -- I hope you enjoy it here, despite poorly-written and -conceived limericks. 
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Dear Jake
Welcome aboard.
A method which I learned in high school for retaining new vocabulary words was to use them. There is something about the human brain that likes to connect one thing with another. If you use a new word in connection with a letter to your aunt or a speech you give at the club or even in your diary, the chances are that the linkage will reinforce the retention of that word in your working vocabulary. I am frequently required to write brief memorandum opinions on legal motions made in my court. I strive to use (just) one of my most recent vocabulary acquisitions in each such opinion. The lawyers who practice regularly in my court have come too expect and look for these lexical gems embedded in the gangue of my prose. Works for me.
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>lexical gems embedded in the gangue of my prose.
FS, nice example and extension of the word gangue!
[variant: gang] \gan\ noun [F, fr. G Gang vein of metal, fr. OHG, act of going] (1809)
: the worthless rock or vein matter in which valuable metals or minerals occur
(C) 1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. and Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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New word to me! Thanks, FS.
Sounds like a contendah for wwftd, tsuwm.
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lexical gems embedded in the gangue of my prose
I love it. Stealth self-effacement cloaked in the guise of pompous erudition.
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Y'all are too kind. 
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