Heh good insight.
(Ps I also have these thoughts about breaking words down (unicorn is uni-corn) and some people get really snarky about it. Don’t let bad comments get to you.)
https://kbin.social/m/Etymology could use some more love!
Where’s the bot that links this as a community when you need’em.
In-sight
This legitimately made me gasp. I feel stupid i didn’t realise this.
You being brain-dead means your brain is dead.
You being brain-dead means your brain is dead.
Repost because all mods should choke on chainsaws.
Once you get a handle on inside out you can check out this ok go song
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How else would one interpret it?
I think the pronunciation, specifically the blending of the end of “upside” and beginning of “down”, turns it into one of those compound words that your brain interprets as an independent word, rather than a combination of its composite parts.
Unused to wonder if the radio announcers that are always reciting the station call letters found that the letters stopped sounding like individual sounds, and the whole recitation became a sort of “word” for them. Like “You’re listening to 102.9FM WBLM!” Did it stop being “double-you bee ell emm,” and turn into more of a mashup of “dubbleyabeeyelmm”?
True, the difference is pretty subtle, especially to a listener, but I wonder strange things sometimes…
As a fellow wonderer of strange things, all I have to say is keep wondering, my friend :)
I think this is the case for a lot of words. It ceases to be a combination of words and it’s just one word. Then in the shower you break it down and ohhh.
Downside up?
Down on the upside
Yes! So glad someone else though of this 😎
It’s not really that I interpret it in another way, but I never really thought about the structure of the word 😅
Go further. For example, people say ‘gypped’ without knowing it’s a pejorative reference to the word ‘Gypsy’ which is itself a pejorative of the Romani.
I remember learning this about 20ish years ago and telling my then-sister in law about it when I explained why I wasn’t going to use it anymore. I got told I had a stick up my ass, and this was by a marginalized (gay, immigrant) woman. (Somewhat unrelated note - very grateful she’s a former relation.)
So glad people have been learning and I’ve been hearing “gypped” less and less in recent years.
Some words have simply entered common use and become decoupled from their former meaning. Maybe your acquaintance was right.
Seems like Orwell was right
My favorite recently is sophist from the pejorative Platonic definition. It really puts words like sophisticated in a different etymological light and subtle contextual meaning.
What’s sophist mean?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophist_(dialogue)
Fake but convincing by argument, gaslighting, etc., generally by someone in a position like a professor, a judge, or a politician.
Yeah, actually I had never thought about the structure of the word either. Thanks for the great shower thought!
I’ve definitely had a similar feeling with band names and brand names, etc. You’re just so used to hearing them that they are their own thing without being the component words that the name contains.
I’ve had similar realizations about words like “across” and “again”.
I get “across”, but what about again?
“A gain” as in one more. Gain meaning “an increase in amount”
A gain. In addition to.
Ha same
And then someone tries that again with “Just realized that “downside up” means “the down side is up”, making it downside up” to see if it makes anymore sense.
Upsigh down? Or upside ouwn?
Shhh! Nobody tell them about “inside out.”
Don’t tell them about insid-- dang! Too late
Why isn’t it outside in?
Kif! We have a conundrum!
It could be to do with something called “ablaut reduplication”. Very basically English has a - kind of - untaught sound order that native speakers inherently apply to the language. Wikipedia will have an article to explain it better. Specifically the vowel order I-A-O. A great example is the phrase “Bish bash bosh” which is getting coverage recently. (One notable exception is “shit, shower, shave” but that is probably down to the chronology of the actions.)
Spot on insight :)
Wonder if OP thinks “right side up” means the left side is down
Always funny to see native speakers discover trivial facts about their language
Walking backwards is also called “penis-side butt” in some languages.
Holy shit does that mean that inside out means the inside is out? 🤯
Now explain why some people are “down for things” while others are “up for it”
Why do you park in a driveway and drive in a parkway? What is the deal?
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I never watch linked videos but this one was worth it.
Wait until you find out “bottoms up” isn’t about a group of people taking an elevator to get mimosas
Get your bottom in that elevator and take it up to the bar
Thank God, another stupid person like me. We are strong in numbers.