hearsomeness #Anglish #PlainEnglish

June 9, 2023

Here’s a good word-swap for you. The word obedient has the Saxon alternative hearsome — which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Therefore, the word obedience can be got rid of in favour of hearsomeness. But would could the equivalent for obey be? Do what I say? Hear-do? What do you think it could be?

© 2023 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Bits 2: Attested Words #Anglish #PlainEnglish

August 22, 2021

Here are more words from my notes, another hodgepodge of randomness. These are all words which are attested with these meanings in standard English. Enjoy!

roup Scot, Northern sell by auction, an auction

redden rubefy, tubify

ruddy rubicund

meter ruler, measuring thing

behest command

behindhand opp. of beforehand

beholden under obligation

behoof

befool dupe

beget procreate

belike probably

belittle depreciate

jut projection

-house -ary (in a place sense, mortuary, library)

brawn muscle

© 2020-2021 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Wane’s World #Anglish #PlainEnglish

January 31, 2021

Wax and wane. This phrase means to increase and decrease, of the Moon mainly. So let’s stop saying increase when we can say wax, and let’s stop saying “decrease” when we can say wane. We can also say eke for increase, as in eke out, but I like to keep eke as a like-for-like (=equivalent) of augment, eke out being to over-augment or over-extend. 

Wanze is another great albeit no-longer-used word. It is the verbal form of “wane” in the same way that “cleanse” comes from “clean”, using the Old English verb-from-noun/adjective-forming suffix -sian. But how could we use this with a distinct meaning to “wane”? In Middle English, as a transitive, awanze meant to impair, diminish, to cause to lessen, to emaciate. Intransitively, it could mean to waste or wither away. Perhaps this could be some niche for (a)wanze, as well.

© 2021 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Something Fishy #Anglish #PlainEnglish

October 13, 2020

Why say suspicious when you can say fishy? It’s a much more evocative word! This sense of fishy seems to come from the notion of slipperiness.

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Adumbrate #PlainEnglish #Anglish

October 7, 2020

Andrew Neil is a wonderful journalist and interviewer, but what is not wonderful was the use of the word “adumbrate” which he used on the 25th of September 2020. What does “adumbrate” mean? It’s from the Latin adumbrat- meaning “shaded, shadowed”. It has three meanings in English: to overshadow, to foreshadow, and to outline. What is wrong with these fine Saxon words? Nothing. Let’s bin off this Latin monster and use our plain English instead.

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Feelingful Teeth

September 11, 2020

“John’s so sensitive!”

“Ouch! My teeth are really sensitive!”

If you (or your teeth) are sensitive, it means they have a lot of feeling. They’re really full of feeling. That is, they are feelingful.

“You’re more feelingful than your brother”

“He’s the most feelingful person I know!”

NOT: feelingfuller, feelingfullest. We don’t say “resentfuller” or “beautifullest”.

The negative can be formed with un-: unfeelingful. That is, “insensitive”.

That’s it! A new English word for you formed totally regularly from the tools already available to us.

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Bits 2 NOTES #Anglish #PlainEnglish

June 30, 2020

Sorting through old scraps of paper and I’ve come across these sundry notes. A real hodgepodge of words.

 

  • gain-, as in gainsay; use instead of contra-
  • with-, as in withstand; use instead of contra-
  • guesthouse = hotel, hospital, inn, poorhouse
  • mindfood = mental stimulant
  • mind-doctor = psychologist or psychiatrist: more likely, mind-healer for psychologist, mind-doctor for psychiatrist
  • mind-healer = psychotherapist
  • mind-making = commemoration
  • mindtrip = hallucination
  • mindtrippy = hallucinatory
  • mindsickness/madness = mania
  • formindsickness/madness = craze
  • sham- = pseudo-, faux-
  • stample < stamp + -le freq.
  • lionhearted = brave, courageous
  • loam?loan? = utensil, implement, tool of any kind
  • anent, about = regarding
  • rub (n) = obstacle, impediment (both non-material and physical)
  • the ego = the I
  • ego(t)ism = I-ishness, selfishness
  • ego(t)istic = selfish
  • build up, heap up = accumulate
  • roomy = spacious
  • work = function
  • working = functioning
  • sway = convince
  • capital city in OE was heafodstol ‘headseat’; could be ‘headtown’ as in Swedish huvudstad.
  • fertilisation, conception = seed-blend

 

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Turnkey and Sawbones #Anglish #PlainEnglish

May 30, 2020

Here are two lovely words we don’t hear enough: turnkey and sawbones. We may not hear them much nowadays, but their meaning is clear: “jailor” and “surgeon”. You might have wondered or forgotten why the doctor from the original  Star Trek was nicknamed “Bones”; well, here’s the reason. I just cannot get enough of lively words like these that bring a strong image to your mind’s eye. Why use the Latinate, more usual alternatives, when we have this kind of brilliant language to use instead?

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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selfsame #Anglish #PlainEnglish

March 15, 2020

“Selfsame”, sometimes written “self-same”, means “identical, exact”. I see no grounds to keep on using the French and Latin words “identical” and “exact” when we have the lovely word “selfsame”.

© 2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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Bits 2 #Anglish #PlainEnglish

January 19, 2020

I was leafing through some old scraps of papers when I came across these sundry notes. These are just random snippets that are interesting. Enjoy!

 

Englandish English

* gain-, as in gainsay; use instead of contra-

* with-, as in withstand; use instead of contra-

* guesthouse = hotel, inn, poorhouse

* lionhearted = brave, courageous

* loam?loan? = utensil, implement, tool of any kind

* anent, about = regarding

* rub (n) = obstacle, impediment (both non-material and physical)

* roomy = spacious

* work = function

* working = functioning

* capital city in OE was heafodstol

 

My Mintings

* mindfood = mental stimulant

* mind-doctor = psychologist or psychiatrist: more likely, mind-healer for psychologist, mind-doctor for psychiatrist

* mind-healer = psychotherapist

* mind-making = commemoration

* mindtrip = hallucination

* mindtrippy = hallucinatory

* mindsickness/madness = mania

* formindsickness/madness = craze

* stample < stamp + -le freq. Similar in meaning to trample but stamping.

* the ego = the I

* ego(t)ism = I-ishness, selfishness

* ego(t)istic = selfish

* fertilise, conceive = seedblend, blend seeds

* fertilisation, conception = seed-blending

 

William Barnes’ Mintings

* sham- = pseudo-, faux-

* build up, heap up = accumulate

 

© 2016-2020 Bryan A. J. Parry

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