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PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   2491 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 28, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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  1. Why does English uses Latin adjectives for so many nouns? It it to sound smart or because it's fundamentally bad at making adjectives as a language?
  2. Where can I find a list of them paired with their nouns?

For example, there's doggy bags and catty behavior and foxy ladies, but everything else is canine and feline and vulpine. Everyting about the sea is marine, everything about the birth is natal, everything about the king is regal or royal, everything about a son is filial, everything about a god is divine.

It feels like another of these upper-class word games, like the collective nouns for animals. "Hawhaw, hearty illness, you say! No, only a meal can be hearty, real hearts are cardiac!"

The History of English Podcast is a very excellent podcast about the development of the English language from Old English to the present day. The episode most relevant to your question is this one:

https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2021/04/28/episode-147-a-rude-and-rusty-language/

Full Transcript: https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/HOE-Transcript-Episode147.pdf

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