recently found

[Neal Whitman]

I'd analyze "jet propulse" as the same kind of back-formation so well-attested in verbs like "sleepwalk" and "bartend," except that instead of removing an "-er" or "-ing", a "-sion" has been removed. Even this has precedent in verbs like "gay marry" (discussed by Arnold Zwicky in numerous messages here and blog posts that I won't try to find and link right now). The only thing that I find weird is that the backformed verb isn't "jet propel", withnthe existence of "propel" blocking "propulse". Oh, well, we have "repel/repulse", so maybe this is a step toward a full set of doublets: compel/compulse, impel/impulse.

Neal Whitman


On Sep 17, 2010, at 1:46 PM, David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM> wrote:

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> Poster:       David Barnhart <dbarnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
> Subject:      recently found
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>
> On the fringe of grammaticality (for me, anyway):
>
>
>
> None of the octopus's imitations are perfect, and they don't need to be.
> "If the predator just takes pause," said Dr. Healy, "the octopus can ink and
> jet propulse away."  Natalie Agier, "Surviving by Disguising: Nature's Game
> of Charade," The New York Times, Sept. 7, 2010, p D2
>
>
>
> DKB
>
> Barnhart at highlands.com
>
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