# fan-bloody-tastic! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840 "2000-04-20T22:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fbagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@fbagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fbagner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/1 "2000-04-20T22:23:00Z")
Another quickie (this is getting to be quite enjoyable…): What is the term given to words or the act of inserting words within words as per the heading - “fan-bloddy-tastic” as Australians are wont to say? ---
**Author:** ![Bucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Bucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bucky)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/2 "2000-04-21T01:03:00Z")
I think it is call tmesis. My recollection is based on Willard Espy’s “A Rhetorical Bestiary,” which is full of terrific examples of word-play. ---
**Author:** ![lswote](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lswote/32/5737_2.png) [@lswote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lswote)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/3 "2000-04-21T01:32:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Bucky: > I think it is call tmesis. My recollection is based on Willard Espy’s “A Rhetorical Bestiary,” which is full of terrific examples of word-play. Smart guy Bucky. I am impressed. 😃 Main Entry: **tme·sis** Pronunciation: (t&-)'mE-s&s Function: _noun_ Etymology: Late Latin, from Greek _tmEsis_ act of cutting, from _temnein_ to cut Date: 1550 : separation of parts of a compound word by the intervention of one or more words (_as what place soever for whatsoever place_) * * * In this world, you must be oh-so smart, or oh-so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/4 "2000-04-21T06:10:00Z")
_Tmesis_ applies when the word that’s broken up is broken in a logical place, as in “South-damn-Dakota” (as my sister calls it). When the word is broken up into two parts that have no meaning related to the original (like “fan” and “tastic”), the term is _dystmesis_. See [Linguistic Phenomena/Devices](http://www.csi.uottawa.ca/~kbarker/ling-devices.html). In linguists, the word inserted is called an infix. It is a regular grammatical construct in many languages. * * * Work is the curse of the drinking classes. (Oscar Wilde) ---
**Author:** ![fbagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7c8e57/32.png) [@fbagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fbagner)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/5 "2000-04-21T06:51:00Z")
Momma said there’d be times when [straightdope.com](http://straightdope.com) would come in handy… 🙂 Thanks to all that replied. This has solved a mystery that has lasted 15 years! ---
**Author:** ![VaHermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@VaHermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VaHermit)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/6 "2000-04-21T07:08:00Z")
South-Damn-Dakota, interesting. Here in Va., we refer to our yankee cousins across the mountain as living in West-By-God-Virginia. I know this is off the subject, but I wonder if any non-name-sharing states have similar nicknames, or is this only a custom between “split states” and if so, does anyone know whether N/S Carolina have a similar good natured name-calling feud going on. ---
**Author:** ![Rasputin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@Rasputin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rasputin)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/7 "2000-04-21T07:14:00Z")
Actually, bibliophage, your examples are incorrect, if I understand this whole tmesis thing correctly. Your first example (South Dakota) is two words, so does not qualify as any kind of tmesis construction. Secondly, a dystmesis is when a word is broken apart at an unlikely place – it is _not_ saying that the parts have no meaning with respect to the original. And since the word fantastic is broken in the most likely place by the first example, it qualifies as a tmesis, but not a dystmesis. Examples – Nothing: bloody fantastic. Tmesis: fan-bloody-tastic. Dystmesis: fantas-bloody-tic * * * “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work… I want to achieve it through not dying.” – Woody Allen ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/8 "2000-04-21T12:53:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Rasputin: > Secondly, a dystmesis is when a word is broken apart at an unlikely place I think it would be rather difficult to construct an absolute rule which governs what constitutes a likely and an unlikely place to break a word. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/9 "2000-04-21T14:15:00Z")
Not as hard as you might think, android. Steven Pinker discusses this in one of his books (I believe “The Language Instinct”), and mentions that, depending on the morphology of the language being spoken, people tend to be pretty consistent, even when they haven’t heard the usage before, in creating tmesis in the same place. (Talk about a run-on sentence. :\ Which is why you might hear a lot of people refer to “Phila-friggin’-delphia” but rarely if ever hear “Philadel-friggin’-phia.” ---
**Author:** ![AmyG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AmyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmyG)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/10 "2000-04-21T14:22:00Z")
OK, in answer (sort of) to VaHermit’s question… Pennsylvania follows the same convention for West Virginia, at least where I grew up (Pittsburgh, which isn’t too far from the PA-WV border). My parents always called it West-By-God-Virginia. It wasn’t meant to be flattering – really, there are a lot of non-PC West Virgnia jokes that get tossed around there. I don’t know about other states, though, or even if they do this in the rest of Pennsylvania. –Amy ---
**Author:** ![Andy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/11 "2000-04-21T14:36:00Z")
Agreed PLD, but an _absolute_ rule ? Of course we naturally find a balanced sounding break, eg unbe-freakin-lievable…whoever heard unbelievab-freakin-le ? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/12 "2000-04-21T16:18:00Z")
Well, sure, maybe not an \absolute\ rule, but one that applies as often as is practical. To use your own example, what sounds better, “unbe-freakin’-lievable” or “un-freakin’-believeable”? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2000, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/13 "2000-04-21T18:50:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Rasputin: > \*\*Actually, bibliophage, your examples are incorrect, if I understand this whole tmesis thing correctly. Your first example (South Dakota) is two words, so does not qualify as any kind of tmesis construction. Secondly, a dystmesis is when a word is broken apart at an unlikely place – it is _not_ saying that the parts have no meaning with respect to the original > > \*\* according to [this](http://humanities.byu.edu/rhetoric/tmesis.htm), “tmesis” is defined as “Interjecting a word or phrase between parts of a compound word, or sometimes, between syllables of a word.” “South Dakota,” despite the space between the “h” and the “D”, is a compound word. My dictionary defines a compound word as “A word that consists . . . of two or more elements that are independent words, such as loudspeaker, baby-sit, or high school. . . .” As for dystmesis, I may have misunderstood the definition given in the link. I still like my definition better, even if it’s not the right one. I can find no other reference to the word other than in [Linguistic Phenomena](http://www.csi.uottawa.ca/~kbarker/ling-devices.html). ---
**Author:** ![pennys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/958977/32.png) [@pennys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pennys)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/14 "2000-04-22T01:48:00Z")
I don’t think you can possible say that South Dakota is a compound word. Surely it’s a proper noun consisting of two quite separate wors? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2000, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fan-bloody-tastic/10840/15 "2000-04-22T07:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by pennys: > I don’t think you can possible say that South Dakota is a compound word. Surely it’s a proper noun consisting of two quite separate wors? South Dakota is so a compound word. While ‘south’ and ‘Dakota’ are words that have meaning, the combination “South Dakota” has a distinct meaning that can’t be deduced from the individual meanings. One could refer to “south Dakota” meaning the southern Dakota tribes, and that would not be a compound word.