Penultimate

February 15th, 2014 at 6:47:14 PM permalink
odiousgambit
Member since: Oct 28, 2012
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Now that someone straightened *me* out, I shall ask without a trace of irony,

why is the word 'penultimate' so misused?

The typical misuse is in place of the word 'ultimate' itself, as if to say "the very ultimate" ... which is not what the word means at all; it means "next to the last", as in a sequence.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penultimate
I'm Still Standing, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah [it's an old guy chant for me]
February 15th, 2014 at 10:37:32 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: odiousgambit
why is the word 'penultimate' so misused?


The prefix means "almost" and comes from a Latin word "paene"
penultimate = almost ultimate
peninsula = almost an island

but it is an extremely rare prefix in English, so most people don't recognize it. There are multiple English words that begin with pen- where there is no meaning of "almost"

pen, penal, pencil, pendant, pendulum, penetrate, penguin

There is a similar word in Spanish, apenas which comes from the same Latin words "a+paene" , and it sometimes can be translated as "just".

apenas terminé = “I have just finished”
February 17th, 2014 at 2:23:59 AM permalink
Mission146
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The penultimate list item is always, "???," and the final list item is, "Profit."

The word is misused for the same reason that words such as, 'literally,' and 'oxymoron,' are frequently misused. It all starts with a certain subset of people who believe they pass themselves off as intellectual by using any word possible having greater than five letters, regardless of proper meaning, and because of such people (who others falsely perceive as vastly intelligent) innocents are suckered into believing that these people are actually using the word properly.

The eventual result of this is a word that used to have a specific meaning, the word, 'irony,' is also a good example of what I mean, being used incorrectly in the public vernacular. In fact, certain words may be misused so often that the majority of people (including intelligent people) actually believe the purported definition of the word, pursuant to the constant misuse, is correct.
"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen..let us give them all they want." William T. Sherman
February 17th, 2014 at 8:57:58 AM permalink
Face
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Mission146
It all starts with a certain subset of people who believe they pass themselves off as intellectual by using any word possible having greater than five letters, regardless of proper meaning, and because of such people (who others falsely perceive as vastly intelligent) innocents are suckered into believing that these people are actually using the word properly.


Yup. Nailed it.

I knew penultimate, but only from racing.
Be bold and risk defeat, or be cautious and encourage it.
February 17th, 2014 at 10:48:25 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
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Quote: Mission146
It all starts with a certain subset of people who believe they pass themselves off as intellectual by using any word possible having greater than five letters, regardless of proper meaning, and because of such people (who others falsely perceive as vastly intelligent) innocents are suckered into believing that these people are actually using the word properly.


It is partly because of posers, but also the English language is genuinely confusing.

Penultimate means "next to last", but it the prefix has the concept of "lacking, scarcity".

So the word penury refers to the needy. And the adjective penurious in a state of penury.

But someone learning English might try to work the concept of "next to" into his understanding of the word "penury".

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What is the difference between the verb "enfranchise" and "franchise" used as a verb?
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If you were talking to someone learning English, could you explain why the final word has a silent "p"? You can't do it.
conceive, deceive, receive
conceit, deceit, receipt
February 17th, 2014 at 2:55:35 PM permalink
Mission146
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Quote: Pacomartin

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What is the difference between the verb "enfranchise" and "franchise" used as a verb?


Those two words have exactly nothing to do with one another when used positively, our hotel is a franchised hotel, and being franchised is slavery while enfranchising is the act of setting slaves free, giving people a right to vote or granting rights (whether or not limited) of self-government to a smaller unit.

However, disenfranchise, or alternatively, disfranchise, means to do the opposite of what BOTH franchising AND enfranchising do.

Quote:
If you were talking to someone learning English, could you explain why the final word has a silent "p"? You can't do it.
conceive, deceive, receive
conceit, deceit, receipt


I'd be lying if I claimed to have any clue, why is that?
"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen..let us give them all they want." William T. Sherman
February 17th, 2014 at 4:06:34 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Mission146
If you were talking to someone learning English, could you explain why the final word has a silent "p"? You can't do it.
conceive, deceive, receive
conceit, deceit, receipt

I'd be lying if I claimed to have any clue, why is that?


Old English tacan means "to take"

Latin cipere was a form of capere meaning "to take"
Latin recipere meant "take back"
Latin concipere meant "to take hold" or "to become pregnant" (variant meaning)
Latin decipere meant "to take in" or "to cheat,"

The adjectival form of "capere" was "capax" from which we get capable.


These words were passed to the French and onto the English about 700 years ago. But they were sometimes spelled with the silent p, and sometimes without. The silent 'p' is from the 'p' in the Latin word.

When the English dictionaries were written in the 18th century, the writers had to select a standard spelling. Samuel Johnson wanted to reject the silent 'p', but in the case of "receipt" it was too firmly embedded into the most common writing. He felt he had to leave it in. So even though all three words have the same root, one of them is spelled differently.
February 17th, 2014 at 4:34:11 PM permalink
Mission146
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Thanks for the information, PacoMartin, it was enjoyable to be told something about English usage that I didn't know (and probably would not have otherwise discovered) as I seek to use the language as precisely as possible.
"War is the remedy that our enemies have chosen..let us give them all they want." William T. Sherman
February 17th, 2014 at 6:41:05 PM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: Mission146
.. it was enjoyable to be told something about English usage that I didn't know (and probably would not have otherwise discovered) as I seek to use the language as precisely as possible.


If you look at another language (see thread Spanish Word of the Day), then the first thing you learn is things about your own language that you didn't know.

For instance we discussed how the languages use a prefix to reverse the meaning of the root word. Since English uses many Latin based words it is often similar to Spanish.

Spanish English
des concertar dis concert
des organizar dis organize
des clasificar de classify
des acoplar un couple
des cabezar be head
des ayunar break fast
des bordar flood


The meaning of the root Spanish words in the first four cases are pretty obvious. They mean "to work in harmony", "to organize", "to classify" and "to couple". The word "cabeza" means "head". The verb "ayunar" in Spanish means "to fast (or not eat)".

The verb "bordar" in Spanish means "to put a border on". It is one of the relatively rare words in Spanish that comes from German instead of Latin. Obviously taking a border off is related to the idea of "flooding".

Spanish is usually more rational than English. They use the same prefix every time to reverse the action implied by the root word. In English we tend to use a variety of prefixes, and to make matters worse they sometimes mean different things.