Rare words

Go to the Ahsoka thread in Cafe Society.

It may be gestating, but it hasn’t birthed yet, and if there is a God, it never will. It is a word that, as I said, doesn’t exist at all – note: “at   all”, not “atall”. Will we soon be hearing “atall”, too? These abominable solecisms don’t always happen.

It’s already in the dictionary. :slight_smile:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/alot

Don’t expect consistency from language construction.

Well, very little. It’s still best to provide tertiary treatment.

I know, but it’s always flagged as “nonstandard” and “proscribed”, which is linguists’ secret code for “wrong”. :wink:

Incidentally, although “today” has appeared in both one-word, two-word, and hyphenated variants, the single word goes far back to the Old English todæge which may have been in use as early as the 7th century.

Oh, god. Where have you been?

I like alot, alot!
:blush:

Do not overuse your allotment of alots. The long wait for a fresh allotment of alots can be very frustrating. IOW, it sucks alot.

I like “defenestration.”

I mean, most people know the word but who ever uses it? Sure you can Google the one million times it was used but really…when have you ever been able to use the word except in a conversation that it is a weird word to be in our lexicon? Pretty much anyone will say the person was tossed out a window and not “defenestrated.”

Perhaps aliquot your allotted alot?

To an axolotl?

I caught myself saying this sentence the other day:

“I like alot of these bushes, alot, altho’ I don’t have alot room for alot of them!”

Gasp!

What’s that again? Things don’t all ways happen?

You are from Arkansas, aren’t cha? :slight_smile:

Why yes I am, y’all.

That which existed when I was born is eternal. That which happened after I turned 50 is abomination.

It was ever thus, and shall be ever thus. Humans are lousy at this game. :grin:

Touché

I’m a medievalist - it comes up quite a bit.

They simply fall into disuse, but you can find them on line if you query them. In the old days, they would be sentenced to the “Unabridged Dictionary”, which was a foot thick.

Unabridged Dictionary

Always: From Middle English alwayes, allwayes, allweyes, a variant of Middle English allwaye, alwey, alle wey (“always”), from Old English ealneġ, ealneweġ (“always, perpetually”)
always | Etymology of always by etymonline

Some form of “always” has existed as a single word since before the 13th century, and would have been familiar to Chaucer. There’s a difference between objecting to the teen-speak of 21st century texting and holding that all changes to the English language since the Norman Conquest are abominations that should be rolled back. I subscribe to the former objection, and not to the latter.

Are you impugning my character, sir, by implying that I am a cranky old fart? If so, you are correct, but I may challenge you to a duel anyway. After I have my nap. :wink: