mmt (12/07/82)
There are a few words used in reasonably common English phrases,
but in no other context. I am looking for examples. So far, various
people have contributed:
petard -- hoist by one's own
serried -- ranks
pale -- beyond the (NOTE: I don't mean words of a given spelling,
so pale as in pale colour doesn't count. This is pale as in boundary
fence)
moot -- point (Again, this one is dubious, since it does
occur in technical legal jargon. I decided to keep it, because
there are lots of technical words which are not in general use,
and all these antique or fossil words could be considered valid
in technical historical or pedantic discourse).
kilter -- to be off kilter
I would appreciate any contributions
Martin Taylor
...decvax!utzoo!dciem!rds!mmt (for direct mail)
P.S. I am not sure whether kilter is a dialect word in common use
somewhere. But dialects also are a kind of technical jargon, so...klick (12/10/82)
This discussion reminded me of a bit of language trivia: There is one adjective used in English which only appears after the noun it modifies, rather than before. The adjective is "galore", as in "thrills galore", etc. According to my dictionary, it comes from Gaelic roots. I think this is the only adjective used this way in English - anybody know of any others? Vickie Klick ...ihuxu!klick
gh (12/11/82)
Another fossilized post-modifying adjective is "incarnate", used in "the devil incarnate".
mmt (12/21/82)
The list of "fossil" words has grown by two since last week. Does
this mean that there aren't very many, or that the question isn't
interesting? Anyway, for what it's worth, here's the list:
hoist by one's own PETARD
SERRIED ranks
beyond the PALE
MOOT point
off KILTER
the DIE is cast --- perhaps dubious, but so many people think that
one of those little cubes with dots is a DICE that
DIE may be obsolete before long.
raised HACKLES
Most of these are fixed by their uses in metaphoric phrases, which is perhaps
why the fossilized meaning differs from the dictionary meaning to some
degree.wel (12/21/82)
A common fossil:
to and FRO
A less common one (perhaps the containing phrase is itself dying out):
an act of SUPEREROGATION
I also enjoy noting "buried fossils": words that exist today only within
negatives, such as
ept, kempt, and rulydwl (12/22/82)
Another buried fossil: Are employees who are satisfied ever said to be GRUNTLED?
stuart (12/23/82)
Another word that exists only in the negative is "couth".
crs (12/23/82)
What about "nocent" as a word used only in the negative? (See definition 2, American Heritage Dictionary.) Charlie ...lanl-a!crs
mmt (12/23/82)
The adjectives that exist only in the negative surely belong to a different class than words which have been preserved only by their inclusion in well-known metaphors. They are interesting in their own right, though. Incidentally, isn't `inept' the negative of `apt' (vowel shift). Martin Taylor
debray (12/24/82)
On encountering various words now used only in the negative, I'm beginning to wonder whether there are many words which mean the same as words which are apparently their negations, like : flammable and inflammable valuable and invaluable (there're others, but they escape me at the moment). Does anyone have any more of these ? Saumya Debray allegra!sbcs!debray
mat (12/28/82)
Re words with the same meaning in the apparent negative, what about the word 'unloose', which is a fossil, and which means to set free!
jah (12/29/82)
What about words which can be used for two opposite meanings? The only example coming to mind imediately is "buckle" which can mean "put together" (Buckle the belt) or "rend asunder" (The bridge buckled under the stress.) --Jim
tjm (12/30/82)
Another word with two opposite meanings is cleave, which means "to adhere firmly.." and also "to divide.."
mmt (12/30/82)
Sorry, but ``the bridge buckled'' does not imply that it came apart,
just that it bent with kinks. There are some words carrying opposite
meanings, and sometimes you can't tell which meaning is intended:
Cleave -- I cleave to you
-- I cleave the meat with the hatchet
Overlook -- I overlooked the valley (did I see everything in the
valley or not notice it was there?)
-- Martin Taylor (keep those fossils coming, folks)mmk (01/02/83)
Try regardless and irregardless on for size. True, "irregardless" was originally used only by those unable to distinguish between words beginning containing "re" (irrespective and regardless) but it has entered the language.