Dan,
so how do you call somebody who cant write nor reed in an English
term?
Thomas, Switzerland
-----Urspr�ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Im Auftrag von Dan/Sal Wheaton
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 5. September 2002 15:34
An: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Betreff: Re: [VFB] an�al�pha�bet�ic
Steve wrote:
Who knew that I would be introduced to an English term that I have never seen before and presumed that it was a misspelling, by a gent from Sweden??
Does that make me neoalphabetic?
Steve Schalla
Well, actually, it can't really be called an "English" term; it's a variation on one of those Renaissance "inkhorn" words imported into the language by one of them there academic types, usually with implications of pretentiousness (though the real motive is often simply playfulness, as here, by Soren). It did have legitimate roots in Greek ("not knowing one's ABC's") and had its transliterated Latin counterpart, but isn't recorded in (written) English until the 19th century. The OED properly identifies it as "obscure" and "rare." But who knows? Maybe now, thanks to the VFB group, it may, like, say, "antepenultimate," take on new life of its own as part of the living language. (Sure beats the overused "clueless.")
I suggest, Steve, that since you're obviously already quite literate, any actual use of the word would make you, at worst, "neologistic."
In case any of you have read even this far, I'll add only that Soren's spelling is interesting in its use of "th" (incorrectly reflecting the Greek theta rather than the original tau), which possibly suggests that he's, hmmm, overeducated? But my thanks to him for a new acquisition.
And as Byard might say, "Keep playin'."
DanW
