# Linguistic oddities **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 6, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471 "2003-07-06T00:10:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/1 "2003-07-06T00:10:11Z")
a) **To be caught unawares** : Any special reason why this should be in what seems to be a plural form?? b) **presently** meaning soon or in a short while. Say what?? (Yes, I know that in current usage, it _does_ mean ‘at the moment’; it’s the rather flaky definition above which piques my curiosity)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/2 "2003-07-06T00:50:29Z")
Plug them in here: > **[Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America's most-trusted online dictionary](https://www.merriam-webster.com/)** > > The dictionary by Merriam-Webster is America's most trusted online dictionary for English word definitions, meanings, and pronunciation. #wordsmatter You should get useful information. The short of it though: “-s” is an old adverb suffix for “unawares” “Presently” seems to have evolved from an archaic definition that meant “at once.” ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/3 "2003-07-06T00:54:40Z")
“Presently” in the sense of “the time following shortly” has been around since 1566. Could be related to “recently”. “Unawares” dates from 1535. Merriam-Webster has the -s suffix for advers as > [@](#): > > used to form adverbs denoting usual or repeated action or state \ \ So, I guess in this case, it is a state of being unaware. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/4 "2003-07-06T01:34:08Z")
## quote: ## used to form adverbs denoting usual or repeated action or state \ \ Hmm. Yes, the examples, I have no problem with. Although I’m not sure how this would relate to ‘unawares’, it not being a ‘ **usual or repeated** action or state’ (my bold). Just my take, though, and I’m probably off track. ““Presently” seems to have evolved from an archaic definition that meant “at once.”” Sounds good too. But ‘at once’ and ‘soon’ or ‘in a short while’ are a bit different, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/5 "2003-07-06T01:55:44Z")
Try the _American Heritage Dictionary_, which is better for etymologies and usage. **-s[sup]3[/sup]** _suff._ Used to form adverbs: _They were caught unawares. He works nights_. [Middle English _-es, -s_, genitive sing. suff., from Old English _-es_.] (Nothing there about frequentative or habitual action. The genitive is the same as what we now call the possessive, ending in -'s.) **pres·ent·ly** (prez´@nt-le) _adv._ **1.** In a short time; soon: _She will arrive presently_. **2.** _Usage problem_ At this time or period; now: \*He is presently staying with us. **3.** _Archaic_ At once; immediately. * * * _ **Usage Note** _ An original meaning of _presently_ was “at the present time; currently.” That sense is said to have disappeared from the literary language in the 17th century, but it has survived in popular usage and is widely found nowadays in literate speech and writing. Still, there is a lingering prejudice against this use. The sentence _General Walters is . . . presently the United States ambassador to the United Nations_ was acceptable to only 50 per cent of the Usage Panel in the late 1980s. * * * According to the _Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology_, “The sense of immediately is first recorded in Lydgate’s _Minor Poems_ (about 1430), and that of the weakened sense of in the time that follows shortly, soon, before 1566.” What Barnhart seems to be implying is that the near future is thought of as just an extension of the present moment. Which reminds me of a guy who used to like saying “I’ll see you in the very near now.” ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/6 "2003-07-06T02:04:34Z")
Thanks for the…addendum, **Mojo**. That said, English is a walk through the park compared to French when it comes to…oddities. ---
**Author:** ![stoyel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@stoyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoyel)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/7 "2003-07-06T02:08:38Z")
“Long since” has always bothered me. He has become quite rich since I saw him last. We don’t communicate, since he was such a jerk. His ex-wife and I are good friends, since they have long since been divorced. So here’s a word that means “after,” “because,” and “before.” What gives? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/8 "2003-07-06T02:20:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by omni-not \* > \*\*a) **To be caught unawares** : > > Any special reason why this should be in what seems to be a plural form?? > > b) **presently** meaning soon or in a short while. > > Say what?? (Yes, I know that in current usage, it > _does_ mean ‘at the moment’; it’s the rather flaky definition above which piques my curiosity)🙂 \*\* I wish the airlines would discover the word “presently” as opposed to “momentarily”. The idea of leaving the ground for only a moment is not something I like to contemplate.😛 ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/9 "2003-07-06T02:40:14Z")
**Thanks to** immediately followed by something totally negative: “Thanks to his inept management, the company has registered its worst quarterly performance in a decade.” What the F\* is there to be thankful for?!? (Thanks for letting me vent…:D) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/10 "2003-07-06T04:04:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by omni-not \* > **Thanks to** immediately followed by something totally negative: > > “Thanks to his inept management, the company has registered its worst quarterly performance in a decade.” > What the F\* is there to be thankful for?!? > > (Thanks for letting me vent…:D) Defintion #2 of “thanks” from the afore-mentioned M-W dictionary site: > [@](#): > > to hold responsible \ So, you see that it’s not gratitude that the word “thanks” is expressing; it’s assignment of responsibility. ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/11 "2003-07-06T14:34:48Z")
Well, yes…I’d seen that. What I’d like to know is, at what point did it move from gratitude (which I believe was the original meaning) to assignment of responsibility. And why? ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-oddities/186471/12 "2003-07-07T18:20:28Z")
Uh, do you think it might have been sarcasm? Thanks to all the class clowns of history, language is a puzzle for some.