Activity for PSTH
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edit | Post #281176 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did 'solicit' semantically shift to signify ‘manage affairs’? I don't understand the semantic shift from sollicitāre ‘disturb, agitate’ to the meaning of "manage affairs", probably because "disturb, agitate" pejoratively connotes discontentment and upheaval, but "manage affairs" neutrally (or even positively) connotes business or transactions. So this shift in ... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281175 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did 'repraesentāre' semantically shift to signify 'standing in the place of another'? To wit, how does "present again, bring back" (in repraesentāre) semantically appertain to the notion of 'standing in the place of another'? >### represent [14] > >English borrowed represent from Latin repraesentāre, which meant ‘present again, bring back’, hence ‘show’. It was a compound ver... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281174 |
Post edited: |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281174 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did 'folding back' semantically shift to mean 'reply'? To wit, how does the notion of "folding back" semantically appertain to "respond"? >### reply [14] > >Etymologically, reply means ‘fold back’. It comes ultimately from Latin replicāre ‘fold back, unfold’, a compound verb formed from the prefix re- ‘back’ and plicāre ‘fold’ (source of Englis... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281173 |
Post edited: |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281173 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How can "lemma" be translated as "rede-ship" with merely Germanic etymons? >Attempts to fashion a purer form of literary English can be seen in the poetry of Edmund Spenser in the 16th century and William Barnes in the 19th century. Barnes’ arguments against borrowing were primarily directed at perspicuity and ease of understanding—although his proposed replacement... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281172 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
Why are service or maintenance contracts called 'warranties', when they aren't Legal Warranties? >The term 'warranty' is used to distinguish between a term (warranty) and a mere representation, and also to distinguish between terms that give no right to termination upon breach (warranties) and terms that do (conditions). Service contracts for electrical and similar items are not really good exam... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281089 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
What did the etymons of “on by + out, over, up” mean? 1. What did the etymons of "on by out", "on by up", "on by over" mean? 2. Why did Old English tack and jam these different prepositions together? E.g. didn't ufan alone mean "above"? Why prefix it with a- and -b- that appear to conribute nothing to the meaning? >### about [OE] >About i... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281088 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How does the semantic notion of “in defiance of” signify “notwithstanding”? The semantic notion of “in defiance of” feels unrelated to “notwithstanding”! What underlies or relates these semantic notions? This question appertains to all languages that founds this conjunction on the Latin despectus e.g. French en dépit de, Italian a dispetto di, Spanish a despecho de, and P... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281087 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How does "happening" appertain to "(be)falling"? I don't understand why English and Latin (see the two quotations below) uses the notion of "(be)fall" to signify "happening". How are they related semantically? >### accident [14] > >Etymologically, an accident is simply ‘something which happens’ – ‘an event’. That was what the word original... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281086 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
Expound and simplify the "semantic progression" behind "must"? I don't understand the "semantic progression" that I emboldened. The steps in the "semantic progression" feel farfetched and unconnected to me. Can someone please fill in, and elaborate, the steps? I try to explain my bafflement. 1→2. If you've measured out time for doing something, then you def... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281085 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How's “drag” (tractāre) semantically related to “handle, deal with, discuss”? 1. How exactly did tractāre branch out "metaphorically to ‘handle, deal with, discuss’"? 2. How does "dragging" semantically appertain to ‘handle, deal with, discuss’? Dragging connotes physical effort, e.g. if a human or animal is dragging objects behind them. "Deal with" and "discuss" feel ... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281047 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How can "in terms of" alone encompass — and substitute — multiple prepositions "at, by, as, or for"? >in terms of. This phrase is commonly used as a substitute for a precise identification of relationship or as a substitute for such prepositions as at, by, as, or for. The phrase is correctly used when one thing is being expressed in terms of another thing, as when a rule is discussed in terms of its... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281046 |
Post edited: |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281046 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did "as" amass all its confusing "broad and vague meanings"? >as. Do not use the conjunction as when you mean “since,” “because,” “when,” or “while.” Its broad and vague meanings can create confusion. For example, As a potential work stoppage threatened to block the opening of school, the arbitrators revised the wording of the contract. Does as mean “when,” “b... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #281045 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How do Latin etymons that end in English in *-tion* nearly always name a process? I don't think the emboldening is correct, because -ing gerunds name a process. See https://english.stackexchange.com/a/444498. -tion just names a result of that process. What do you think? > In English and many other languages the word for transla- tion is a two-headed... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #280932 |
Post edited: |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #280932 | Initial revision | — | about 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did 'less than' semantically shift to mean 'if not'? What semantic notions underlie less than and IF NOT? How did less than semantically shift to mean IF NOT in at least these 5 languages? Just edit this post if you pine to add other languages with this semantic shift. >1. unless (conj.) mid-15c., earlier onlesse, from (not) on lesse (than... (more) |
— | about 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279811 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279811 |
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— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279811 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #280063 | Initial revision | — | over 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How does backwardation semantically relate to "backward"? What semantic notions underlie any sense of 'backwardness' (like "backward" or "backwards"), with the meaning of 'backwardation' below? Etymonline overlooked this term. OED is too brusque and doesn't expound the etymology. John Hull. Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives (2017 10 edn). p 129. ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Comment | Post #279811 |
@msh210 You may be correct, but I can ask the same question for "able to be [verb]ed". Ability to be paid doesn't mean requirement to be paid. So "payable" did shift semantically. (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Comment | Post #279810 |
@JirkaHanika Hello again! Not this time! I can relate to knots as problems for me personally, because I'm bad at untying knots. Her native language is Russian, I think.
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— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279811 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279811 | Initial revision | — | over 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did “-able” semantically shift to mean “requiring”? Etymonline on "-able" doesn't expound the origin of "requiring". > # \-able > > common termination and word-forming element of English adjectives (typically based on verbs) and generally adding a notion of "capable of; allowed; worthy of; requiring; to be \\\\\\ed," sometimes "full of, causing... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279810 | Initial revision | — | over 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How can a problem or puzzle be analogized as a knot? An ESL student was asking about the quotation below at my school, but I don't know how to expound or simplify to her that "A problem or puzzle can be thought of as a knot." Any ideas? She knows what a knot is, but somehow she can't connect the dots between a knot and a problem. > The Latin root... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279766 |
Post edited: |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Comment | Post #279731 |
Many thanks as always for your answers! Can you please elaborate on how the meaning got verbified? Please don't hesitate just to edit your an
swer, rather than posting a comment. Once verbified, what did "ad grex", i.e. "to the group" or "to the herd" mean? For instance, in English, it's unidiomati... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279766 | Initial revision | — | over 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
What semantic notions underlie "gasket" with "little gird, maidservant"? I see that Etymonline warns of gasket's uncertain origin, but I still pine to understand this possible etymology. I know little about sailing, and Wikipedia annunciates: > gaskets are lengths of rope or fabric used for reefing a sail, or hold a stowed sail in place. This etymology feels misogy... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |
| Edit | Post #279683 | Initial revision | — | over 3 years ago |
| Question | — |
How can a prepositional phrase shift to become a verb? I don't know why, but the embolded semantic shift for agree (v.) below unsettles me. 1. a gré is a prepositional phrase, correct? 2. If so, how can a prepositional phrase transmogrify into a verb (e.g. agreer)? Can you please make this shift feel more intuitive, or naturalize this shift? ... (more) |
— | over 3 years ago |