Saw another list of "untranslatables" with the usual suspects (schadenfreude, hygge…). Couple of things:
—Funny how lists of untranslatable words always supply translations. The words usually just don't have precise, one-word translations—esp if they're culturally very specific
—Except sometimes they do. Schadenfreude has a little-known English equivalent, epicaricacy, borrowed from Greek & listed in some English dictionaries since the mid-18C
I've seen "solution" verbed quite a bit, as in "Let's solution that", but until today I don't remember seeing its complement, the nouning of "solve": "What are the solves?"
Rule 1 of verbing and nouning: It's nearly always older than you think. OED's first citation for "solve" as a noun? 1780.
I've just come across the Old English compound word "hord-wynn" (hoard-joy), which refers to treasure that delights.
That's how I'm going to be thinking of my library from now on 🥰 📚 #Life#Books#Words#Etymology
Just heard the word "gulch" go by on the radio and thought about how it's not a word in general Canadian usage, but it is one generally recognizable from American culture. So primarily American usage?
We'd probably say "gorge" or "ravine" here. I wonder about UK or Aus/NZ English?
What terms can stand in for LGBTQIA+? It really is a mouthful (mindful?). I see #gay and #queer used as catch-alls, but I've also seen people take umbrage with that. Can someone help me out with more #words here?
The other day, I learned that the British pronounce "plait" as "plat." I thought I knew all the differences between British and American pronunciation, but that one had escaped me. I kind of like "plat," to be honest. And to-MAH-to. My wife and I should have been British. #Words#English
LANGUAGE: It’s enslaved persons, not “slaves”. We are people who were ENslaved. When you say “enslaved”, you make clear that someone else did this to us. When you say “slave” you speak the language and mindset of the people who did this to us. This is important. It is not semantics. #history#language#enslavedpeople#Black#Mastodon#words
Headlines can be hard to read sometimes - is that a noun, verb, adjective? And just who are these "damning paper savages" who plan to rebuild public housing? :)
A few weeks ago "rizz" was being celebrated as the OED's word of the year. Now, it's time to remove it from your vocabulary. NPR reports on the 2024 Banished Words List, devised by the faculty at Michigan's Lake Superior State University, and including terms like "impact" (especially as a verb), "hack," "at the end of the day" and "cringe-worthy." Which word or phrase would you like people to ditch this year?
Someone really cares about #orthography (or maybe they learned it in class?) that they tried to fix the #spelling of our university staff... (Edited: the #Canadian Oxford Dictionary lists "enrolment" as the word, which is the British spelling, but includes the American "enrollment" as a variation. Canadian websites use "enrolment.")
Whenever I use the word "short" in an expression e.g. "I came up short" "sorry if I was short with you" "I stopped short of..." it feels like a self-referential play on words but, then I remember, on the internet nobody knows you're short!
I am going to do a two thread thing in this pinned post.
One will have a list of lessons that I believe that I have learned in life and that I wish that I had learned earlier. I know that I cannot go back and change things but a least I can keep them as reminders for myself so that I hopefully can remember not to repeat them, and if they help anyone else that is a bonus.
The other will be a list of words that I think have problematic usage and/or meanings. I have a few that I see as especially having issues. I decided to go ahead and write on this because of an encounter with someone else here who stated that they thought “offended” was problematic when I said that I was sorry that I had offended them. Offend is not one of my problem ones, though I may have to rethink that.
Do you use the word “tump”? As in: the ‘coons were chasing the ‘possum around the side yard and tumped over the garbage cans. Mildred didn’t care because it was Leroy’s job to get them to the curb. #lexicography#words#English
The Planet Word Museum in DC is very cool on the origins of language, nuance of language and meanings and subtleties.
Highly interactive, so good for kids as well as adults. #language#books#words