Haven't you ever heard "seriousness" used before?Yeah EI, I've often wished for words like that as well, particularly a nominal form of "serious". The best I can think of is "seriosity"by analogy of "curious" -> "curiosity".
I wish English had a word for this!
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Yeah, that's pretty much it. Also, I thought the -ness suffix only occurred on nouns of native or near native origin rather than those from Latin.I'm not speaking for him, but I hate the -ness suffix. It makes stuff seem awkward.
"There was a particular car I soon came to think of as distinctly St. Louis-ish: a gigantic white S.U.V. with a W. bumper sticker on it for George W. Bush."
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I've heard "ridiculosity" and "sensuosity". But the author who said them was going for ridiculosity in the first place.Eccentric Iconoclast wrote:I wish English had a word for "ridiculousness" that didn't sound painfully awkward. My brain has gone and invented one out of the blue (ridiculum), but I imagine that sounds silly to everyone but me.
Well, I don't mind it. It helps create abstract nouns for words such as "seriousness" where a word with the desired meaning doesn't already exist. It's very usefull.I'm not speaking for him, but I hate the -ness suffix. It makes stuff seem awkward.
You must remember that the average person isn't a walking etymological dictionary that can tell the difference 'tween latin words and english words, as obvious as it is most of the time. Every word is a native word to them. And if -ness is a productive suffix like it is where I am, why shouldn't they use it to help create abstract nouns?Yeah, that's pretty much it. Also, I thought the -ness suffix only occurred on nouns of native or near native origin rather than those from Latin.
I do concede thoe that I would preffer "seriosity" over "seriousness" 'cuz I'd preffer english suffixes stick with english nouns, while latin suffixes stick with latin nouns, but I'm just a single person in the english-speaking world. If I want to convey an idea, I use the word that is most likely to relay that concept. If you google for "seriousness" and "seriosity", you'll see that "seriousness" overwhelmingly has more hits than the other. 12,100,000 vs 96,400. Thus, assuming that google hits are a reasonable counter of usage statistics, more people would be more familiar with the meaning of "seriousness" than "seriosity".
Or how about gravity? He was unaware of the gravity of his situation.FinalZero wrote:Haven't you ever heard "seriousness" used before?Yeah EI, I've often wished for words like that as well, particularly a nominal form of "serious". The best I can think of is "seriosity"by analogy of "curious" -> "curiosity".
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The skyscraper which the windows of are blue, mayhaps?dhokarena56 wrote:English has a possesive pronoun for people-whose- but none for things, so we must say, "The skyscraper whose windows are blue." Maybe it could be something like, "The skyscraper whiches windows are blue."
[quote="dinnae"][quote="Sano"]I'm a Homo sapien, does that count?[/quote]
Only if you go Erectus in the presence of the same sex.[/quote]
Only if you go Erectus in the presence of the same sex.[/quote]
Ugh, stylistic nightmare. If it were indefinite, I could say, "A skyscraper the windows of which are blue" but oddly this doesn't seem to work with "The skyscraper the windows...". So "The skyscraper with the blue windows" it is.Gremlins wrote:The skyscraper which the windows of are blue, mayhaps?dhokarena56 wrote:English has a possesive pronoun for people-whose- but none for things, so we must say, "The skyscraper whose windows are blue." Maybe it could be something like, "The skyscraper whiches windows are blue."
What's with all the mythology? "...whose windows are blue" is fine.
[quote]Let us not look too closely at ourselves to see whether or not we have, in our untime, been successful. Turn your face from yourself; it is too late for that. I turn my face from you and I; let us look instead at how the ocean purrs.[/quote]
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For several years, I've been using "the skyscraper which windows are blue", and I believe a lot of other Polish speakers do so, as more-or-less of an improper calque.English has a possesive pronoun for people-whose- but none for things, so we must say, "The skyscraper whose windows are blue." Maybe it could be something like, "The skyscraper whiches windows are blue.
While that's grammatical, it sounds a bit more natural to say the skyscraper the windows of which are blue. To me, at least.Prmysl wrote:Quite often I hear things like this constructed "the skyscraper of which the windows are blue".
Actually, I just use "whose" most of the time.
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http://www.veche.net/novegradian - Grammar of Novegradian
http://www.veche.net/alashian - Grammar of Alashian
http://www.veche.net/novegradian - Grammar of Novegradian
http://www.veche.net/alashian - Grammar of Alashian
I miss a verb like the Norwegian å grue seg
It means something like "to be nervous (and think a lot) about something that is going to happen in the future to oneself" It's a verb which is used a lot! (at least when in school. You know - tests )
And of course the "Saudade" is a highly unique and incredible word
It means something like "to be nervous (and think a lot) about something that is going to happen in the future to oneself" It's a verb which is used a lot! (at least when in school. You know - tests )
And of course the "Saudade" is a highly unique and incredible word
"Get some ganas" sounds kinda like "Grow some balls".... ^_^;;; .
My Span teacher in high school explained "ganar" as "to have a strong desire to do/passion for something." I like this word, too .
My Span teacher in high school explained "ganar" as "to have a strong desire to do/passion for something." I like this word, too .
English doesn't "borrow" from other languages. It follows other languages down dark alleys, beats them unconscious and rummages through their clothing looking for loose grammar.
The same in Catalan: Tenir ganes de (Ct.) = Tener ganas de (Sp.)Wycoval wrote:I like the Spanish word ganas, meaning 'desire to do something', like a noun for 'want-to'.
'No tengo ganas' basically means 'I don't want to do it', but I like using the noun without sounding all hoity-toity like 'I have no desire to do it.'
Get some ganas!
And gana, in Catalan, means "hungry".
Un llapis mai dibuixa sense una mà.