tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post6956102627148220906..comments2024-02-20T08:25:06.177-08:00Comments on Confessions of ignorance: fomentseana grahamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-31976584481654163842012-12-05T21:55:19.864-08:002012-12-05T21:55:19.864-08:00Brian, does the process you have in mind have to d...Brian, does the process you have in mind have to do with a word becoming attached to one particular kind of meaning, or is it that words tend to get taken over by negative sorts of associations because of the powerful feelings they invoke?<br /><br />(Nice to see you around these parts, by the way.) seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-31208124841503723452012-12-05T16:32:28.962-08:002012-12-05T16:32:28.962-08:00I fear that, like many good words, foment is on it...I fear that, like many good words, foment is on its way out because it's more and more used in conjunction only with rebellion. There's a name for the linguistic process that escapes me ...<br /><br />-Brian OAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-73062101605368405242012-12-02T22:42:07.279-08:002012-12-02T22:42:07.279-08:00I would there not to be many of those occasions of...I would there not to be many of those occasions of great importance, is all. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-31163711543509075412012-12-02T22:36:36.012-08:002012-12-02T22:36:36.012-08:00Wait, I have it now!
You don't think it's...Wait, I have it now!<br /><br />You don't think it's a serviceable word for an occasion of great importance that nonetheless makes one want to upchuck?<br /><br />Which reminds me that as soon as a I learned the Dutch word for upchuck, I wanted to use it as a character's name: Baron van Overgeven.<br /><br />But be careful because:<br /><br />Verb<br /><br />overgeven (strong class 5, separable)<br />1.(transitive) to hand over, to give over<br />2.(reflexive) to surrender, to give oneself up<br />3.(intransitive) to vomitPeter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-84142636741765312462012-12-02T22:35:54.332-08:002012-12-02T22:35:54.332-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-37299937115116498802012-12-02T22:35:16.875-08:002012-12-02T22:35:16.875-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-45902753537154661312012-12-02T22:20:31.353-08:002012-12-02T22:20:31.353-08:00Not sure if fomentous is a word yet, but perhaps y...Not sure if fomentous is a word yet, but perhaps you've just coined it. I don't think I really want 'voment' to catch on...seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-39141561599397542072012-12-02T21:14:21.750-08:002012-12-02T21:14:21.750-08:00Hmm...was the storming of the Bastille a fomentous...Hmm...was the storming of the Bastille a fomentous occasion?Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-45558144937254702492012-12-01T22:34:22.125-08:002012-12-01T22:34:22.125-08:00For me, voment would be thrown up rather than mixe...For me, <i>voment</i> would be thrown up rather than mixed up. Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-84116685515823796122012-12-01T22:25:43.811-08:002012-12-01T22:25:43.811-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-36785935017399747562012-12-01T22:19:32.327-08:002012-12-01T22:19:32.327-08:00It would be fun to try and figure out how I deciph...It would be fun to try and figure out how I decipher things, as quite a lot of my job involves hearing what people say and trying to decipher it appropriately. Some of the guesses I make are quite unintentionally hilarious.<br /><br />If there was a word 'voment', it would often be mixed up with the topic word here.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-83729035582850331882012-12-01T22:10:57.337-08:002012-12-01T22:10:57.337-08:00How we read and how we hear, too, I think. The beg...How we read and how we hear, too, I think. The beginning of a word sets off that neurological process by which we recognize the rest of the word. This must be tied in with the importance of initial consonants.<br /><br />And then there is the triliteral system, by which Hebrew, Arabic, and other Semitic languages form their roots.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-5722350415823213742012-12-01T21:54:47.489-08:002012-12-01T21:54:47.489-08:00However, foment and moment do share three consonan...However, foment and moment do share three consonants, so what we're talking about is beginning consonants, and the question is why they bear so much of the weight.<br /><br />I have seen many examples of how we read which leave out the whole middles of words though, and how we are able to find meaning anyway. I suppose this is good news for people who are bad spellers.seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-90240137949631914542012-12-01T20:20:42.990-08:002012-12-01T20:20:42.990-08:00Somebody once called linguistics the science in wh...Somebody once called linguistics the science in which vowels mean little and consonants even less (or maybe the other way around). I always think of consonants as the bearers of meaning, and vowels as the sounds that shape and create shades of that meaning. So the different consonants that begin foment and moment would eliminate the possibility that I would connect the two in any way.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-64228127200719228982012-12-01T20:16:33.600-08:002012-12-01T20:16:33.600-08:00There don't seem to be a lot of people who see...There don't seem to be a lot of people who seen links between foment and moment, either, which on the surface would seem quite easy to do. But words with the same beginnings may seem to have stronger connections than words that rhyme. I wonder why. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-66083421206762016252012-12-01T20:09:47.948-08:002012-12-01T20:09:47.948-08:00I never connected foment with foam, probably becau...I never connected foment with foam, probably because of the differences in spelling. But I have always enjoyed fomenting a bit of amiable unrest.Peter Rozovskyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09977933481463759162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-4659244854704196652012-12-01T20:00:49.569-08:002012-12-01T20:00:49.569-08:00Well, it's easy to see why, based on the foam ...Well, it's easy to see why, based on the foam related blog post I posted to here. He or she says that foam is a product of air being infused into a liquid, causing it to expand in volume. And foment, no longer at the hot poultices stage, means to grow something or expand something. To cause it to grow bigger. So there is a coincidence of meaning, just as there is with ferment. seana grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03774794086733027289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054888927218536027.post-49819196111554513562012-12-01T00:30:02.337-08:002012-12-01T00:30:02.337-08:00I've ALWAYS thought it was to do with foam, be...I've ALWAYS thought it was to do with foam, because I think I often hear it in context with the Ocean. Like "The waves fomented and the ship went down." <br /><br />Interesting!Julie C Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10819620461769996658noreply@blogger.com