| Title: | The Joy of Lex |
| Notice: | A Notes File even your grammar could love |
| Moderator: | THEBAY::SYSTEM |
| Created: | Fri Feb 28 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jun 02 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1192 |
| Total number of notes: | 42769 |
Where was that note that brought us gems like: Clumbersome and Insinuendo I heard someone here at DEC use this one the other day: Guestimate I guess it can be noun or verb.
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.1 | SOURCE::CHRISTENSEN | Tue Feb 19 1985 15:37 | 5 | ||
...and then there was the exasperated system administrator
who was contending with "an influctuation of new users"...
(I think it reflected her perception that they were a
plague!)
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| 55.2 | AUTHOR::BENNETT | Thu Feb 21 1985 13:28 | 1 | ||
These are known as portmanteau words. | |||||
| 55.3 | VIA::LASHER | Fri Feb 22 1985 09:50 | 9 | ||
"Guestimate" has been around for a number of years and is an interesting portmanteau (has this Humpty Dumpty invention caught on?) because it means *less* than the sum of its parts. "Clumbersome", a more typical portmanteau, means more than either "clumsy" or "cumbersome." But "guess" and "estimate" have such similar meanings that "guestimate" serves to create an ambiguity between the two. "Estimate" implies a greater degree of reasoning than "guess", which implies random speculation. "Guestimate", usually because of carelessness but occasionally because of the speaker's intention, blurs this distinction. | |||||
| 55.4 | METEOR::CALLAS | Fri Mar 01 1985 14:27 | 1 | ||
I thought that 'estimate' was merely a euphemism for 'guess.' | |||||
| 55.5 | SUPER::MATTHEWS | Fri Mar 08 1985 09:57 | 1 | ||
Heard on NPR news last night: "laxadaisical." | |||||
| 55.6 | SA1794::CHARBONND | cennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntipede | Tue Nov 21 1989 14:08 | 4 | |
One of the late Robert Heinlein's female characters
referred to another character (also female) as a
'slitch', which I thought extremely expressive.
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