Comment

If we’re putting effort into fixing how society uses words, can we work on flammable versus inflammable first? Then I vote for fixing the odd one out in the terrible, terrific, horrible, horrific quad. Then the split between awful and awe. Then…

source

Sort:hotnew top

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

can we work on flammable versus inflammable first?

no. also you missed horrid

source
- ericwdhs@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I didn’t miss it. It just doesn’t cleanly fit into this framework (imagine it as a square table instead of a list):
  
  Horror + -ble = horrible (bad) Horror + -ific = horrific (bad) Terror + -ble = terrible (bad) Terror + -ific = terrific (good)
  
  source
  - HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I’m suggesting we need a terrid
    
    source
    ericwdhs@discuss.online ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Genius! Also, did you know “whale” comes from “large sea fish?” Ridiculous. Another one for the list.
    
    source