Silliness is Golden

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Mon, Nov 01, 2004

Missing Words

There are some gaps in the English language:

Inclusive and exclusive 'we's

In "My friend doesn't like you. I don't like you either. We concur on this important matter" and "My friend thinks you're cute. I think you're cute, too. We should go catch a movie sometime;" 'we' is being used in different senses.

I've been told that Malaysian pidgin is one of the few world languages to address this distinction. Therein, apparently, mitupella (me-two-fella) is the exclusive (my friend and I, but not you) we, and yumi (you-me) is the inclusive.

This is a pretty good solution, and I'd love to be able to use it in conversational English. Of course, the richest possible solution would have three terms: a first/second person, a first/third, and a first/second/third.

A good clean 'fuck'

'Fuck,' as you may have noticed, is an obscene word. It's also clear and concise. I wish English had a similarly straightforward verb that wasn't connotatively raw, smirky, or contemptuous. Many applicants have been proposed, but none seems entirely satisfactory.

  • Chaucer used 'swive.' Half the people I've mentioned this to don't like that it sounds like 'wife.' The other half don't like that it sounds like 'swine.'
  • 'Schtup' feels vulgar and a little sneery to most listeners.
  • Same for 'screw.'
  • Anotherjen suggested 'shag,' which has crept into American english due to Michael Meyers' dilligent efforts. It isn't bad at all, but I can't quite bring myself to use it.
Rule of Law

Lately I've found myself pining for a word to mean 'respectful of rule of law.' As a phrase, it sounds fussy and pedantic, but the principle described is fundamental. Without a government and citizenry that values rule of law, the only thing protecting our safety and freedom is the uninterrupted benevolence and wisdom of those in power. Such a system certainly has its advantages; famously, under a sufficiently intelligent and forceful leader, it can work wonders for train scheduling, for example.

I guess if I had to construct such a word from elements already on hand I'd call John Kerry (to pick the obvious example) a nonprotofascist. From a linguistic standpoint, that's pretty hideous, though.

Anti-curiosity

The absence of curiosity is, I suppose, indifference, or maybe boredom. There's another emotion, though, that's more of a polar opposite--an active urge to remain ignorant. Many of us have, at one time or another, felt this emotion with respect to a lover's sexual experiences with others--often simultaneously and at odds with curiosity. To venture back into politics for a moment, Beloved and Respected Leader Dubya seems to feel this emotion on many matters of policy, where too much reality-based information might interfere with ideological purity.

I'm at a loss for how to actually create such a word, and all my attempted coinages have been teh sux. Would anyone with a grounding in latin or greek like to try assembling somthing?

[/diaries/diary/glossary/] 1 comment

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comment by Dreda:

This is terribly late, but does people's affection for "swive" change when it's pronounced "SWEE-vuh"? You know, so it scans?

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