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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 6
stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 6 |
Though I see that through the week, "this week's theme" has been described as "eponyms", on Monday, Anu spelled out a key aspect of these words "This week A.Word.A.Day will feature five people, real and fictional, whose names may appear to be derived from a verb form, but aren't." So I was surprised for a moment to see "tartar" since I didn't think someone would mistake it to mean someone who "tarts". Granted, there are "liar", "beggar", and "scholar", but those are a limited set of cases; the "-ar" ending isn't productive as a "doer" suffix.
On that note, today's "satyr" really surprised me! I can't think of a "doer" word that ends in "yr". (A martyr doesn't "mart" either!)
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
This week A.Word.A.Day will feature five people, real and fictional, whose names may appear to be derived from a verb form, but aren't. Mentors, for example, don't ment, though that doesn't prevent people from forming nouns such as 'mentee' and verbs like 'to mentor'. I just put the intro right under your remark, because I do not completely understand what you mean ( neither exactly what Anu meant for that matter  ).
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I'm with tales. Tartar struck me as odd and satyr as grasping for straws. Surely there are other words that fit the mold; stentor for example.
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