AAE Q160: Negative prefixes

Hello,

My question was that,why people use untouchable not intouchable, why non-terminating not interminating?

Supriya

Hi Supriya,

The reason that these prefixes are different is because of the influence of other languages on the English Language. Take a look at the table and text below.

Thanks

	Origin	Meaning	Productivity
a- (an-)	Greek	not, without	medium
anti-	Greek	against	high
dis-	Latin	not, opposite of	low
in- (il-, im-, ir-)	Latin	not, opposite of	medium
non-	Latin	not	high
un-	Germanic	not, opposite of	high

The prefixes a- and anti- are both of Greek origin. This explains why the very majority of the words that can use these prefixes also have their origin from Greek (e.g. chromatic, morphous, symmetric, typical, aerobic, hydrous, oxic).

The prefixes dis-, in-, and non- are Latinate in origin. Similarly, words that go along with dis- and in- are mostly from Latin/French. They include words like dishonest, discourteous, dissimiliar, inaccessible, inaccurate, insignificant, to name a few. On the other hand, while non- is also commonly associated with Latinate/French words such as non-negotiable, non-judgmental and non-specific, it has become more productive than the other Latinate prefixes. This prefix can form negative adjectives with many present participles and past participles regardless of the origin of the stem word, such as non-smoking, non-aligned, non-caffeinated, and even with participle phrases, such as non-profit making, non-man made. Another interesting fact about non- is that it can often form neagtive adjectives by joining verbs, to express the meaning that the thing described does not perform the action described by the verb. Examples include non-stop, non-shrink, non-slip

Un- is a prefix native to English. It is mostly attached to native words to form negative adjectives, such as unfriendly, unhappy, unfair, and so on. But it can also be attached to certain Latinate words, giving unable, unsympathetic, unconscious, unreasonable, etc. Like non-, it is a productive prefix and is ready to form adjectives with present and past participles, giving words like unfeeling, undecided, unjustified, etc.

http://www.linglish.net/2008/09/15/so-many-negative-prefixes/

Phrase of the Day 85: 'gift of the gab'

"to have the gift of the gab"

definition: If you have the gift of the gab you have the ability to talk a lot, and can often persuade other people to do what you want.

(vyřídilka, dobře proříznutá ústa)

example: 'He was born with the gift of the gab., and became very sucessful in advertising'

origin: The primitive Celtic word for mouth was Gab, but the expression is more likely based on the Middle English Gabbe meaning "idle talk". Gab however remains in modern use as the basis of Goblet and the slang Gob for mouth. Gab, for mouth, was known in 1811.

Phrase of the Day 75: 'pear-shaped'

"to go pear-shaped"


definition: to go wrong, to fall apart, to get out of control or to fail.

(pokazit se, rozbít se)

example: "All our plans went pear-shaped after our funds were cut by the finance department."

origin: from the Royal Air Force, where learning to fly apparently includes doing acrobatic loops. Flying a loop was difficult for experienced pilots and when performed by a beginner are more than likely to appear lopsided and "pear-shaped." You can imagine observers on the ground saying, "Good. Good. Oh no, he's gone all pear-shaped."

Interesting Origins: 'gyp'

"gyp"

definition:
(n) a cheat or swindle; a rip-off;
(v) : to cheat or swindle someone out of something

"the taxi driver gypped me out of ten pounds by taking the longer route."

origin: A negative term used to refer to the Roma people (commonly known as Gypsies) who were known as very skillful thieves. So when someone is 'gyped', they have become a victim of thievery.

Also because they arrived in Europe from the East, they were thought by the first Europeans to be from Turkey or Nubia or Egypt and they were called, among other things, Egyptians or 'Gyptians, which is where the word "Gypsy" comes from.

New English Words: Wiki

"wiki" (n)

Wiki is one of those words that I knew existed (mainly from the website Wikipedia) but I never really thought about what it was or meant....until now. It has just officially entered the Oxford English Dictionary this March and so I decided to learn a bit more about the word.

A wiki is a website that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors.

Where does the term Wiki come from?


The word was coined by Ward Cunnigham in 1995. He heard this word on his first visit to Hawaii. An airport worker directed him to take the Wiki Wiki bus between terminals. In Hawaiian 'wiki wiki' meant quick and words are doubled for emphasis. This word from the Hawaiian language stuck in Cunningham's mind and he chose to call the technology that he was working on WikiWikiWeb. He installed the WikiWikiWeb on his company Cunningham & Cunningham's website c2.com on March 25 1995 . He chose to use the word in lower case as the progam name, thus it was the first ever wiki. The url for the technology can be found on the wiki page. From this page you can navigate via other links and find some useful and interesting information about wikis.

The Pagan origins of Eggs and the Easter Bunny

Have you ever wondered where the celebration of the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ got its unusual name and odd symbols of coloured eggs and rabbits?

The answer lies in the fact that the Christian church retainedPagan practices. After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, they simply included Pagan practices into Christian festivals. Clever clerics copied Pagan practices and therefore made Christianity more appealing to pagans, who were reluctant to give up their festivals for Christian practices.

In second century Europe, the main spring festival was a Saxon fertility celebration in honour of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.

The coloured eggs associated with the bunny are of another, even more ancient origin. The eggs associated with this and other festivals have been symbols of rebirth and fertility for so long the precise roots of the tradition are unknown, and may date to the beginning of human civilization. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and abundance- eggs were solar symbols, and figured in the festivals of numerous resurrected gods.

Pagan fertility festivals at the time of the Spring equinox were common- it was believed that at this time, when day and night were of equal length, male and female energies were also in balance. The hare is often associated with moon goddesses; the egg and the hare together represent the god and the goddess, respectively.

Moving forward fifteen hundred years, we find ourselves in Germany, where children await the arrival of Oschter Haws, a rabbit who will lay coloured eggs in nests to the delight of children who discover them Easter morning. It was this German tradition that popularised the 'Easter bunny' in America, when introduced into the American cultural fabric by German settlers in Pennsylvania.

Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.)

Some Christian groups have tried to get rid of these symbols within the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan name of Easter for more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'

Phrase of the Day 57: 'no room to swing a cat'

"There is no room to swing a cat!"


definition: you say this phrase when you are in a awkwardly small, confined space

(Nedá se tam ani hnout.., Není tam k hnutí)

example: "Your bedroom is really small, there is no room to swing a cat in here!!"



origin: The 'cat' referrs to the whip used to punish sailors in the British Navy, called the 'cat o' nine tails'. If a sailor was to be punished with a nine tailed whip in a confined area there would be no room to "swing a cat" and give the punishment.

Note: This is the most common explanation of the origin and is not definite

Phrase of the Day 48: 'wrong end of the stick'

"to get the wrong end of the stick"


definition: if someone has got the wrong end of the stick, they have misunderstood what someone has said to them.

(naprosto nepochopit, o co jde)

example: "SImon's employer asked him to re-sign his contract (for another year), but he got hold of the wrong end of the stick and thought he had been sacked"

origin: There are two possibliliteis for the origin of this phrase:

1) This phrase refers to a walking stick held upside down, which does not help a walker much. Originating in the 1400s as 'worse end of the staff', this term was changed to the current wording only in the late 1800s.

2) The Romans invented the flush toilet, but not toilet paper; and their lavatories were communal affairs, where one would go and discuss the day's happenings with whoever else was in at the time. Personal cleanliness was addressed with a cloth or a sponge which lived in a bowl of water at one end of the lavatorium, and which was passed from person to person by means of a stick. It is easy to imagine someone deep in conversation not looking when the stick was passed to them, and therefore getting hold of the wrong end of it.

Phrase of the Day 47: 'as mad as a hatter'

"as mad as a hatter"

definition: completely mad

example: "That man talking to himself over there is as mad as a hatter!"

(šílený)

origin: Mercury used to be used in the making of hats. This was known to have affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane. The use of mercury compounds in 19th century hat making and the resulting effects are well-established - mercury poisoning is still known today as 'Mad Hatter's disease'.

Phrase of the Day 42: 'once in a blue moon'

"once in a blue moon"


definition: a very rare event

(jednou za uherský rok, skoro nikdy)

example: "I see Jeff once in a blue moon; he is always working"

origin: A blue moon was originally cited as something impossible and later came to mean unlikely. There are rare examples of the moon actually appearing blue, after volcanic eruptions or unusual weather conditions. Another possible derivation is from The Maine Farmers' Almanac. When there were two full moons in a calendar month the first was printed in red, the second in blue.

Phrase of the Day 38: 'to beat around the bush'

"to beat around the bush"


definition: to not directly address the problem/issue, to speak indirectly or evasively

(chodit kolem neceho jako kocka kolem horke kase; mlatit prazdnou slamu)

example: I wish Josh would stop beating around the bush and tell Jana what he really thinks

origin: Hunters used to hire 'beaters' who would beat/hit bushes. This would cause the hunted animal or bird to leave the bush and leave the hunter to 'make his point' (i.e. kill the animal)

Words of Interesting Origin: grog/groggy

groggy

definition: unsteady and dazed; shaky.

example: "When I wake up early in the morning I feel groggy until I have some coffee"

origin: Rum began in the West Indies and became a naval drink in the early 18th century. Admiral Vernon, in 1740 ordered that it should be mixed with water before being given to the crew. The admiral used to wear a cloak made of a coarse fabric called 'grogram': his nickname was Old Grog. 'Grog' became rum and water. 'Groggy' began as drunk and moved onto genererally shaky.

Ahoy /Ahoj

AHOY Captain!!

So did you realise that the Czech greeting 'ahoj' was actually imported from Britain? In fact, the word 'ahoy' is a common greeting among sailors. But how did this nautical expression enter a country which is so far from the sea?

From what I can find out, a lot of Czechs ran away to Britain to join the Royal Navy during the First World War. In doing so they picked up the term 'ahoy' from the Naval Officers and later brought it back to the Czech (and Slovak) lands .

The actual origin of the word 'ahoy' is probably from 'a hoy': a hoy is a small coaster ship, usually sloop-rigged, used in transporting passengers and goods from place to place.

So just think next time you walk down the street, bump into your friend, and say 'Ahoj!', in reality you are just saying 'A ship!'.

Strange.........

Words of Interesting Origin: goodbye/hello

goodbye

origin: it is a shortening of the expression "God be with ye (you)"


hello

origin: it is a shortening of the expression in Old English "hal beo thu" or "whole be thou (you)"



for more information about greeting people click here

Words of Interesting Origin: avocado

avocado (Avocado Pear)


definition: n. Pear-shaped fruit with dark green, leathery skin, a large stony seed, and greenish-yellow edible pulp. Also the topical American tree on which this fruit grows.

origin: the Aztecs called this fruit ahucatl after their word for testicle. This is may be partly due to the fruit's resemblance to a testicle, but also because it was supposedly believed to be an aphrodisiac. To the Spaniards ahucatl sounded like avocado (=advocate, Spanish), and so the fruit came to Europe, via Spain, under that name. Avocado pears are also sometimes called Alligator pears. The etymology of this is far more obvious; the skin of these fruits is dark green, thick, leathery, and knobbly, rather like that of an alligator.

Phrase of the Day! 29: 'manky'

"that looks/is really manky!"


definition of manky: dirty and very used.

(podřadný)

suggested usage: You might not want to use this word on a job interview but it does allow you to give "dirty" and "used" a rest, down at the pub.

example: "Now, now, don't cry. Use my tissue. I'm afraid it is a bit manky. Sorry."

origin: Old French manc, manque via Scottish. Originally from Latin mancus "maimed." The underlying root is *man-ko- "maimed in the hand." Akin to English "mangle" and Sanskrit manak "little." The root, man- is the same as that in Latin manus "hand," which appears in numerous English borrowings: "manual (by hand)," "manipulate," "manuscript," "manicure," etc.

Words of Interesting Origin: lesbian

Lesbian


definition: a female homosexual or woman who is primarily attracted to other women.

origin: The word lesbian comes from the Greek Island of Lesbos, where the poet Sappho lived in 600 B.C. Sappho was an intellectual and poet who wrote many love poems to other women. Although much of her poetry has been destroyed by religious fundamentalists, the few poems of Sappho that remain speak clearly to her love and infatuation with women.

It is unclear when the word "lesbian" was first used to describe women who love other women, but the first usage can be traced back to the 1800s. It came into popular use in the lesbian feminist era of the 1960s and 1970s.

Words of Interesting Origin: muscle

muscle


definition: the contractile tissue that effects the movement of and within the body

example: "I've been going to the gym for months; my muscles are getting huge"

origin: from the Latin mus (mouse) plus cul (dim.) - the little mouse that runs beneath the skin when you flex

Words of Interesting Origin: addict

addict


definition: a person with an uncontrollable urge or habit for a drug or situation.

example: a person who regularly takes hard drugs like heroine is called a "drug addict",
a person who plays football, watches football, loves footlball can be called a "football addict"

origin: Slaves given to Roman soldiers to reward them for performance in battle were known as addicts. Eventually, a person who was a slave to anything became known as an addict.

Words of Interesting Origin: bohemian

bohemian

definition: unconventional in, especially, appearance and behaviour; "a bohemian life style"
(bohémský)

origin: from the French (15th century) who originally believed that gypsies came from Bohemia