ToTN

[Beverly Flanigan]

We talked about "conversate" about a year ago.  Very common, though I think
it started in AAVE.

At 03:14 PM 7/1/2006, you wrote:
>Have you had to deal with "conversate," yet, Jon? When i first heard
>it, I thought that it was hip, jokey, pswaydo-learned slang. But, now,
>I've heard it from people of every race, etc., who clearly believe
>that "conversate" is neither new nor a joke. It's simply the verb from
>which "conversation" is derived, if they think about it at all.
>
>-Wilson
>
>On 7/1/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: ToTN
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>I don't get "orientate."  Brits do, though.
>>
>>    JL
>>
>>sagehen <sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
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>>Poster: sagehen
>>Subject: Re: ToTN
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> >> >not exactly out of nowhere, since purists have been alternately
>> >>>complaining for centuries (documented in Dennis Baron's book, if
>> >>>memory serves) about lazy speakers who persist in lopping the
>> >>>beginnings and ends of helpless words (like Wilson's people,
>> >>>complaining about "till" or "bus") or about idle speakers who add
>> >>>unnecessary, redundant, and superfluous syllables to perfectly good
>> >>>words (the ones who complain about "unto" and "until"). Of course,
>> >>>both sects have typically have operated in blithe ignorance of the
>> >>>actual histories of the words involved.
>> >>>
>> >>>LH
>> >>~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> >>Um. Does this mean I *shouldn't* write to my local npr station to ask
>> their
>> >>announcers/news reporters to notice that "preventive" does not have four
>> >>syllables?
>> >>AM
>> >>
>> >Well, they'd probably note (at least I would if I were they) that
>> >while "preventive" does indeed have just three syllables,
>> >"preventative" has four.
>> >
>> >LH
>>~~~~~~~~~~~
>>Yeah, sure. But why? Preventate ??! Preventation?!? I see that OED
>>(against my expectation) has an entry for "preventative," but I don't get
>>it.
>>AM
>>
>>
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