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 4 1 2 3 4
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
"presenteeism"

I heard this used on the news tonight in a report about research into the cost to society of people turning up at work when they are ill and should be at home in bed. It's the opposite (obviously) of absenteeism.

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
clunky coinage.

cloinage.


formerly known as etaoin...
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
not all that neo; Quinion, for example, presenteed this in 1996.

-joe (but into the queue it goes) friday

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
 Originally Posted By: The Pook
"presenteeism"
It's the opposite (obviously) of absenteeism.
Absentmindeeism?

 Quote:
cloinage
Heh

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
old hand
OP Offline
old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,067
 Originally Posted By: tsuwm
not all that neo; Quinion, for example, presenteed this in 1996.

\:D chuckle. droll, very droll.

Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
And what's to hate?

Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
I saw, "inspirator" for "inspiring person" today.

Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
addict
Offline
addict
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 631
 Originally Posted By: Faldage
And what's to hate?


This, IMO, is the problem with hardcore descriptivism. If anything goes, anything goes.

Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
 Originally Posted By: Hydra

This, IMO, is the problem with hardcore descriptivism. If anything goes, anything goes.


but, as any good sport will tell you, it is what it is.

Hydra #178300 07/26/08 06:55 PM
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
the problem with hardcore descriptivism. If anything goes, anything goes.

Oh, sigh. John McIntyre (director of the copy desk at The Sun, a past president of the American Copy Editors Society, and an adjunct instructor in journalism at Loyola College in Maryland) has this to say about that:

"It is wholesome for him to point out that the caricature of the descriptivist viewpoint — that anything a native speaker of English says or writes is by definition legitimate — is a straw man. No serious linguist thinks that." (link).

And lest you think that McIntyre is some closet descriptivist, he does point out the flip-side:

"Unfortunately, in describing the “militant grammarians” such as David Foster Wallace, the author of a well-reasoned critique of the philosophical underpinnings of descriptivism, Mr. Greene presents the other straw man, the prescriptivist as the blind follower of nonsensical rules about not splitting infinitives and not ending sentences with prepositions. "

Descriptivist posit that the only way to determine what is grammatical and what is not is by describing how people actually use the language. This is as far from anything goes as all get out.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
Page 1 of 4 1 2 3 4

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 (), 674 guests, and 4 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