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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
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My girlfriend asked me to post this question for her. She encountered the word "grovely" (yes, with an "o") in a text and neither one of us can figure out what it means, although from context it seems to be some sort of state of emotion.
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Joined: Mar 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
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I seem to see it in my mind with two L's...and as being in the state of groveling. If you're continually groveling for something, you're grovelly. As when you're constantly slobbish, you're slovenly.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Yes, grovelly makes sense. "In a text"? In a book: it should be printed correctly, but in casual writing I keep coming across adverbs like "radicaly" so spelt.
I suppose you could argue that the suffix wasn't the adjectival -ly of "slovenly", "cowardly", but the more common -y of "teary, snowy, dusty"; in which case it might come under the UK/US distinction of travelling vs traveling. It's hard to tell because L is the only letter where the distinction is clearly observed.
Can we find examples with another letter? Do we write fidgety or fidgetty? Crotchety or crotchetty? I think I'd go for double T, which shows that -y does invoke the same rule, but are there any clearer examples? Do Americans use single T in these?
We want unstressed syllables ending in -p to match worship(p)ing, or -s to match focus(s)ing, or -t to match rivet(t)ing.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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As long as we are questioning the word's correct spellling (who's their copy-editor?  ), we could try groovily as a possibility. Maybe the author dictated the book and had one of those closed caption transcriptionists type it up (I see it all the time on my TV)...
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
Look who's complaining about spellling...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
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Yeah, Brandon...if we were having a groovy time you could say we were groovily hanging around! Which is, like, what we're all kinda doin' here at AWAD, man. Pretty heavy duty stuff, you know what I mean? Yeah, man, it's an outta sight place! I can groove here groovily for a long time! And you gotta watch those L's...they can be pretty helllllllacious on your speling, know what I mean?
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"grovely" (yes, with an "o") in a text and neither one of us can figure out what it means
It appears to mean a feeling (emotion) occasioned by having to grovel or to feel as if one *should* grovel ... that is : to move or lie in a prone position, face down, in abject humility; or - face down begging for forgiveness - or to behave obsequiously especially in seeking favor or forgiveness. (according to OED)
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Joined: Mar 2000
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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Look who's complaining about spellling...You caught me. In reality, I rarely check my spelling on this board, but I read every email I send out with a fine-toothed comb. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I spend so much time watching my Ps and Qs, I'd better add those slim little Ls to the batch. Thanks.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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... fidgety or fidgetty? Crotchety or crotchetty?
fidgety and crotchety both look correct to me with my USn Reader's Digest SpelingŪ
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
Digressing... big surprise...
I've always wondered how the handiwork of crochet ended up coincidentally the base of the word crochet(t)y... it can't just be crabby little old ladies who do the stuff.
Sorry tsuwm, but at least it wasn't about quilting!
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