# words that mean the same when the a is dropped at the beginning **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 4, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986 "2017-02-04T15:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/1 "2017-02-04T15:57:29Z")
even those that might as well be the same without the ‘a’, such as a-lert. Wouldn’t ‘lert’ be the equivalent? But, for purity sake, just those a words that really do mean the same without the ‘a’, such as: abide anear attuned akin ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/2 "2017-02-07T15:32:27Z")
It seems that when the ‘a’ means ‘toward’, it makes sense, but some others don’t. The tornado was afar off, vs. the tornado was far off. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/3 "2017-02-07T16:50:11Z")
I’m not a-goin’ to contribute to this thread. Much. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/4 "2017-02-07T17:31:15Z")
I once had fun explaining to my nephews that _flammable_ meant the same thing as _inflammable_, and watched the wheels turn in their heads before they ran off to pester my brother with their new “discovery”. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/5 "2017-02-07T18:03:45Z")
Stupid thing we’d yell in high school: Be alert- because we need more Lerts!! ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/6 "2017-02-07T20:13:28Z")
Did “aloud” at some point corrupt into “out loud”? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/7 "2017-02-07T20:15:05Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > But, for purity sake, just those a words that really do mean the same without the ‘a’, such as: > > abide > anear > attuned > akin Well, they don’t mean the same, quite, depending on how they’re used. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/8 "2017-02-07T21:40:07Z")
I think your base premise is flawed. I think the “a” prefix has several different meanings. Compare “affixed” with “fixed”. A stamp can be affixed to an envelope, but the stamp cannot really be fixed to the envelope. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/9 "2017-02-08T11:58:09Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > I think your base premise is flawed. I think the “a” prefix has several different meanings. > > Compare “affixed” with “fixed”. A stamp can be affixed to an envelope, but the stamp cannot really be fixed to the envelope. I disagree, respectfully. I would say that fixing a stamp to an envelope is the same thing as affixing it. When the ‘a’ means ‘toward’, I get it, but there seems to me to be a lot of such words that just sounded better to 200 year ago ears than without the ‘a’. The ‘lert’ one, of course, without the ‘a’ results in a word with which we are not familiar, but, I would argue, does mean the same thing, we just haven’t bused our ears enough with it to make it sound okay. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/10 "2017-02-08T11:59:20Z")
What is the opposite of ‘alive’? ‘Adead’? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/11 "2017-02-08T15:17:08Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > abide > anear > attuned > akin “Abide” and “Bide” are not at all synonymous. “Abide” means to accept a circumstance; “I guess I’ll abide by the rules.” Less commonly, it means to dwell somewhere. “Bide” means to wait or stay in place; “I’ll bide my time until Sarah gets here.” Archaically, “abide” could be used in place of “bide” but it’s not anymore. “Anear” is pretty much a dead word. I have never in my life heard a person say that word. “Attuned” specifically means to be adjusted to a specific situation or stimuli. “Tuned” means a lot more things, so “attuned” does have a unique flavor that makes it worthwhile as a word. “Akin” and “kin” are, obviously, different. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/12 "2017-02-08T22:14:54Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > I disagree, respectfully. I would say that fixing a stamp to an envelope is the same thing as affixing it. [Merriam-Webster agrees with you](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fix); “affix” is given as a synonym for “fix” in the first definition. Although, to be utterly pedantic, you have to drop the “af” at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/13 "2017-02-08T22:35:57Z")
Aardvark. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/14 "2017-02-08T22:48:17Z")
ashamed? o’possum (in case this expands to other leading letters) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/15 "2017-02-09T00:07:04Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Although, to be utterly pedantic, you have to drop the “af” at the beginning. Well, unless you’re Welsh… ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/16 "2017-02-10T14:28:46Z")
I understand the “a” prefix to carry some sense of approximation, or metaphorical extension of the root word’s meaning. So “kin” refers to a close blood relationship, but “akin” means “very like”, and “tuned” indicates a precise calibration of sound to a specific scale where “attuned” simply refers to a sympathetic adjustment or resonance. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/17 "2017-02-10T14:37:35Z")
Lert? :dubious::dubious::dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/18 "2017-02-10T14:39:44Z")
[Here](http://www.prefixsuffix.com/rootchart.php)’s a chart of pre- and suf- (but absofuckinglutely no in-) fixes. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/19 "2017-02-10T16:05:47Z")
Be careful with words that start with Al. A lot of them are Arabic and they reference Allah. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986/20 "2017-02-10T16:21:56Z")
From a whole nother thread: > [@Can true Straight Dopers = Pro Trump?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-true-straight-dopers-pro-trump/779421/5): > > A True Doper would point out that it’s _'bated_ breath, short for abated, meaning held. It’s not _baited_ breath, which means that the breath in question smells like minnows or worms, depending on where you were fishing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-mean-the-same-when-the-a-is-dropped-at-the-beginning/778986.md?page=2)