Cato's Grammar Grumble

[Cato]

And, curiously, that dictionary gives a Middle English form (which by now is a foreign language) and . . . the earliest citation there is late 19^th c.;  already feels like a barbarous back-formation . . . .

I had a professor many moons ago, who impishly told me that for every scholarly article he wrote, he made it a point to find an obsolete or obsolescent word in the OED and to insert it in his writing.   

[Karl Henning]

Agreed.
There are several quotes from each century between Middle English  & 19th c. in the full entry.

Thanks; I did wonder if that were not an accident 

[jochanaan]

Hold on to your hat Cato!

Thinking about impact I have found a new verb to unleash upon the world.


....



Repercuss. "This will repercuss on the bottom line; we can repercuss the decision by ...;that will repercuss me."

When the Reaper cusses...!!!

[Jay F]

I like "repercuss," I find. My inner Lisa Simpson likes it, anyway. And no one has hated the nounicization of verbs and the verbicization of nouns more than I.

[jochanaan]

I like "repercuss," I find. My inner Lisa Simpson likes it, anyway. And no one has hated the nounicization of verbs and the verbicization of nouns more than I.

Actually, "repercuss" is a mere restoration of a probable verb by removing a suffix--minor surgery compared to what else has happened to our mother tongue.

[Ken B]

Actually, "repercuss" is a mere restoration of a probable verb by removing a suffix--minor surgery compared to what else has happened to our mother tongue.

It has been surgeried.

[jochanaan]

It has been surgeried.

Amazing, the difference between "surgically removed" and "cut off."

[Karl Henning]

On the lines of invite VS. invitation:

The submit was successful.

[Ken B]

On the lines of invite VS. invitation:

The submit impacted success in a positive fashion.

[Karl Henning]

Nice succeed there, dude.

[Karl Henning]

Today innumerable of his 431 compositions have been recorded [...]

We can number his compositions;  we just cannot number the subset which have been recorded.

[North Star]

We can number his compositions;  we just cannot number the subset which have been recorded.

It would be a bit of a chore to count them, sure..

Of course, that isn't what they mean:

Today innumerable of his 431 compositions have been recorded, his output and life have been recorded in book form, and his works, most of which are still unprinted, are being published.

[Karl Henning]

Maybe it's just some clunkiness in the translation.

[North Star]

Maybe it's just some clunkiness in the translation.

Most likely, there's probably some expression which means both innumerable and several.

[Cato]

Maybe it's just some clunkiness in the translation.

A CPO CD?  They have some of the worst!  (Although to be fair, the original German in many of their notes is often full of high-falutin' babble by some phlyarologist.)

[Ken B]

A CPO CD?  They have some of the worst!  (Although to be fair, the original German in many of their notes is often full of high-falutin' babble by some phlyarologist.)

I like my babble low-falutin'. I'm a man of the people, me.

[Karl Henning]

Most likely, there's probably some expression which means both innumerable and several.

Aye.  In inglese, if he wanted something more emphatic than (the admittedly rather neutral) several, I suppose he might have to go with a great many.

[Karl Henning]

I like my babble low-falutin'. I'm a man of the people, me.

Could be the Libra in me, but I do prefer mid-falutin'.

[North Star]

Aye.  In inglese, if he wanted something more emphatic than (the admittedly rather neutral) several, I suppose he might have to go with a great many.

Or numerous.

[Karl Henning]

Good.