Man!! English 101 and flyfishing in one easy lesson. What a concept.
Mel
Dan/Sal Wheaton wrote:
> 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
