Re:English is relatively easy to learn, but not to master (2...
by dghf on Sunday March 28, 2021 @10:58AM
(#26610892)
> Word munging is uncommon in English. When a new word is coined it is mostly atomic (app, tweet, selfie). You rarely can take two existing words and combine them with a prefix, a suffix, an ending and get a new word that is grammatically correct.
> Or “defenestrate” when you mean “toss out the window”?
The word usually appears in its noun form, defenestration, for which there isn’t really a handy alternative. You can’t really talk about The Throwing-out-of-the-Window of Prague when discussing the Thirty Years’ War, for example.
> “dick off the dicks over the dick and re-dick them dickwards” is close but not close enough
“The fucking fucker’s fucking fucked” is perfectly grammatical and comprehensible English, if somewhat colloquial.
Prequel. Tweetstorm. Brexit. Clusterfuck. Omnishambles. Freegan. Romcom. Stagflation.
> Or “defenestrate” when you mean “toss out the window”?
The word usually appears in its noun form, defenestration, for which there isn’t really a handy alternative. You can’t really talk about The Throwing-out-of-the-Window of Prague when discussing the Thirty Years’ War, for example.
> “dick off the dicks over the dick and re-dick them dickwards” is close but not close enough
“The fucking fucker’s fucking fucked” is perfectly grammatical and comprehensible English, if somewhat colloquial.