zompist bboard

Does this word "elsewise" find its way into your lexicon frequently? I just wrote a text message, "Are you free elsewise this weekend?" It didn't strike me as in any way odd or antiquated except that the dictionary on my phone wouldn't accept it. In speech I must use this word, otherwise (!) I wouldn't have written it in a text message.

How does this word strike you? The interwebs say it's rare, not accepted in many dictionaries. Some native English speaker say they hear it from time to time, some do not know it. As I said, for me it really doesn't strike me at all. Within my speech community I imagine it must be accepted, or where else would I have learned it?

I've honestly never even heard it before. I looked it up, and it seems to just be a synonym for otherwise. Is there a difference between the two in how you would use it?

It sounds like a nonce word to me. I don't recall ever having heard it before, but I can see it being perfectly comprehensible in context.

Herra Ratatoskr wrote:I've honestly never even heard it before. I looked it up, and it seems to just be a synonym for otherwise. Is there a difference between the two in how you would use it?

'Otherwise' is of course preferable, but it could be more marked? It's possible my mind created the word looking for a referential equivalent to elsewhere (as in elsewhere in time, but here referenced against a time when the other person is not available hence the use of -wise). Otherwise, it could be in my lexicon. It's hard to know if a word strikes you as normal after such a situation because it could just be a bias.

Fine to me. Means just what it says. Don't usually use it, though.

I have occasionally come across "elsewhen", for what that's worth.

I've never heard it, but it doesn't really sound bad to me and I understand what it's supposed to mean. I'm no native speaker though.

Elsewise sounds quite normal to me. My favourite '-wise' word is contrariwise, which I use all the time.

Never heard of it. What are they doing to the English language in Michigan?

Shm Jay wrote:Never heard of it. What are they doing to the English language in Michigan?

I'm pretty convinced that I created this word. A mix of otherwise and elsewhere using the morpheme else.

And 'elsewhen' is not a word I have heard of.

Etymonline notes its use since the 1540s. Wiktionary notes its use in massively bestselling novel "A Game of Thrones" in 1999.

What else is fun ? What fun is else!

I looked up in Bosworth and Toller's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, and there's an entry for elles hwá {elsewho} which means 'any(body)'
Elles hwæt {elsewhat} for 'anything else'. Hmmm...is there elsewhat???

Though this might be verging on Anglish, could we call a xenomorph an "elsewight" ?

Could another name for an ulterior motive be someone's "elsewhy" ?

Maybe "elsemother" and "elsefather" could stand in as step-parents,or worse, may be the last known alias for deadbeat parents ?

Is an alternate route an "elseway" ?

Maybe I should take the elseway home, since I don't have elsewhat to say.