[FRIAM] Pondering weird english words

Mon Dec 31 11:51:55 EST 2018

Nice! I didn't know the simple sound re- came from so many roots! Might
explain why  Rapier seemingly gets pronounced ree pre ayur (for example)
it's a classic weapon in movies. supposedly for a time
privatteyerrs{spelling- the 15th century marineers tasked with steeling
enemy supplies (latter called privateers and pirates.) used them. I haven't
a clue why.  I have been told it had to do with old habbits and pragmatics.

I wonder if the word Tyre that  became the day tuesday is the same reason
their Tier. Both are associated sounds to move up a latter. I gather in the
case of Tyre it was because he had to give up something (an arm) to move
foward. Or not get eaten according to wikipedia.  I haven't clue if that's
also because of simple mispronouncing a name or sound that somehow became
the defacto way to say it. Surprisling common.
eXspRResso I gather is only eSSpreso. as the popular example.No idea why
people in california added more Are sounds and a Eks sound as well.

On Mon, Dec 31, 2018 at 8:30 AM Barry MacKichan <
barry.mackichan at mackichan.com> wrote:

> Much more than you asked for…
>
> “lax” is “loose’, as in morals and bowels.
>
> “Re-“ is more complicated. From the Oxford English dictionary:
>
> “re-, prefix
>
> of Latin origin, with the general sense of ‘back’ or ‘again’,
> occurring in a large number of words directly or indirectly adopted from
> Latin, or of later Romanic origin, and on the model of these freely
> employed in English as a prefix to verbs, and to substantives or
> adjectives derived from these.
>    In earlier Latin re- was used before consonants, and red- before
> vowels or h-, as in redīre, redimĕre, redhibēre (rarely in other
> cases, as in red-dĕre). The latter form appears in Eng. only in a few
> words which are ultimately of Latin origin, as redeem, redemption,
> redintegrate. In later Latin the form with d was no longer in use, and
> re- was employed before vowels as well as consonants, as in
> reædificāre, reagĕre, reexpectāre, reillūmināre, etc.
> In a few words adopted from French the prefix has so coalesced with the
> main part of the word that its real nature is obscured. In some cases
> this is due to the combination of re- with another prefix, as ad- (Fr.
> a-) or in- (Fr. en-). For examples of these types, see ransom, rally,
> rampart.
>
> 2.2 The original sense of re- in Latin is that of ‘back’ or
> ‘backwards’, but in the large number of words formed by its use, the
> prefix acquires various shades of meaning, of which the following are
> the most clearly marked. a.2.a ‘Back from a point reached’, ‘back
> to or towards the starting-point’, as in recēdĕre to draw back,
> recurrĕre to run back, redūcĕre to lead back, referre to carry back,
> refugĕre to flee back, remittĕre to send back, respicĕre to look
> back, retrahĕre to pull back, revocāre to call back. Sometimes the
> sense of ‘backwards’ is also implied, as in resilīre to spring back
> or backwards. The return of light and sound is expressed in such verbs
> as relūcēre and renīdēre to shine or flash back, reboāre to bellow
> back, resonāre to echo, resound. In many cases the idea of force is
> present, as in reflectĕre to bend back, repellĕre to drive back,
> reprimĕre to force back, rescindĕre to cut back; hence arises the
> sense of resistance, as in reluctārī to struggle against, repugnāre
> to fight against, reclāmāre to cry out against, recūsāre to refuse.
> Occasionally the sense passes into that of ‘away’, as in removēre
> to move back or away, revellĕre to pull away or off. b.2.b ‘Back to
> the original place or position’, as in recondĕre, repōnĕre,
> restituĕre, etc. to put back, replace; freq. implying ‘back to one's
> hands or possession’, as in recipĕre to take back, redimĕre to buy
> back, rependĕre to pay back, resūmĕre to take back. c.2.c
> ‘Again’, ‘anew’, originally in cases implying restoration to a
> previous state or condition, and frequently occurring as a secondary
> sense in verbs of the two classes already mentioned; further examples
> are recreāre to create again, reficĕre to make again, reformāre to
> form again, renovāre to make new again, refrīgēscĕre to grow cold
> again, revirēscĕre to grow green again. This naturally passes into
> cases where the action itself is done a second time, as recoquĕre to
> cook or bake again, refricāre to rub again, regenerāre to produce
> again, retractāre to handle again, etc. This class of words is largely
> augmented in later Latin, as reædificāre to build again, rebaptizāre
> to baptize again, etc. Many of these later compounds have been adopted
> in English, and have chiefly supplied the models for the new formations
> illustrated in §5. d.2.d In some cases re- has the same force as Eng.
> un-, implying an undoing of some previous action, as in recingĕre to
> ungird, reclūdĕre to unclose, to open, refīgĕre to unfix, resignāre
> to unseal, revēlāre to unveil. More rarely it expresses direct
> negation, as in reprobāre to disapprove of. e.2.e ‘Back in a
> place’, i.e. ‘from going forward’, with verbs of keeping or
> holding, as retinēre to hold back, religāre to tie back or up,
> refrēnāre to rein back, reprehendĕre to (seize and) keep back; or
> ‘without going on or forward’ with verbs of rest, as remanēre,
> residēre, restāre to stay or stop behind, requiēscĕre to stay quiet,
> etc. Other shades of this sense appear in relinquĕre to leave behind,
> reservāre to keep back, store up.
>    Even in Latin the precise sense of re- is not always clear, and in
> many words the development of secondary meanings tends greatly to
> obscure its original force. This loss of distinct meaning is naturally
> increased in English, when the word has been adopted in a sense more or
> less remote from the strict etymological significance of the two
> elements which compose it. In many cases the simple word to which the
> prefix is attached is wanting in English; in others a change of sound or
> shifting of stress frequently assists in disguising its original sense.
> In the Romance languages, as in later Latin, extensive use was made of
> re- as a prefix in verbs and verbal derivatives, and some of the words
> thus formed are among the earliest which were adopted in English, the
> immediate source being OF. To these and later adoptions from French
> belong many of the commonest words beginning with re-, as rebate,
> rebound, rebuke, rebut, recoil, redress, refresh, regain, regard,
> regret, remark, etc.
>
> 3.3 Words formed with the prefix re- first make their appearance in
> English about the year 1200. In the Ancren Riwle, the first text in
> which such forms are prominent, there occur recluse, recoil, record,
> relief, religion, religious, and remission. Towards the end of the
> century Robert of Gloucester uses rebel, receit, release, relic, relief,
> remue, repent, restore, revest. In the 14th c. the stock is largely
> increased, especially in the writings of Langland, Chaucer, Wyclif, and
> Trevisa, and by the year 1400 the number in common literary use is very
> considerable. During the 15th c. the additions are of less importance,
> but about the middle of the 16th an extensive adoption of Latin forms or
> types begins; the French element at this time is small in comparison,
> though it includes some important words. Towards the end of the 16th c.
> re- begins to rank as an ordinary English prefix, chiefly employed with
> words of Latin origin, but also freely prefixed to native verbs, a
> practice rare before this period, though Wyclif, Trevisa, and others
> have renew (after L. renovāre). Such formations, however, are common in
> Elizabethan writers: Shakespeare has recall, regreet (frequent), relive,
> requicken, resend, respeak, restem, retell (thrice), and reword, and
> many others occur in contemporary literature, as rebuild, recast,
> refind, reflow, regather, etc. Since 1600 the use of the prefix has been
> very extensive, though the number of individual formations appears to
> have been smaller in the 18th century than in the 17th and 19th.
>    The rapidly increasing use of re- in the early part of the 17th c.
> is strongly marked in the dictionaries of Florio and Cotgrave, both of
> whom freely invent forms with this prefix to render Italian or French
> words which begin with it. Many of these reappear at a later date, and
> most of them might be formed again at any time: the following may be
> quoted as specimens of those which have obtained little or no currency
> in later writers.“
>
> --Barry
>
>
> On 30 Dec 2018, at 12:58, Gillian Densmore wrote:
>
> > While reading a book last night  talking about some characters
> > relaxing.
> > I've always been curious. If Re: is to do again. then what was laxing
> > supposed to be?
> > Many people on this and the wed-tech list are REtired.  So do you get
> > Tired
> > again then quit being a worker ?
> > I seriously get these kind of words.
> > Any guesses where they came from?
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