Pedants' Paradise

[jean]

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/anathema

I rather like one of the other examples:

For the advent purists this is of course anathema.

Do you suppose that came from a discussion on the regrettable tendency to sing Christmas carols too early?

[french frank]

I always felt that 'plethora' in its general sense meant 'an abundance, lots of' whereas in its medical sense it means 'an excess, too much''. ?

'Anathema' has a complicated origin but later (Classical) meanings include (OED) ‘a thing devoted to evil, an accursed thing’, I suspect the origin of the non use of an article stemmed from an awareness of the classical origin where there was no article.

Whether the schoolmasterly rule was established because it was understood as being formed from 'an athema', I could not say.

[mercia]

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/anathema

surely the indefinite article should be omitted in the first two examples

I didn't know you could anathematise things

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anathematize#English

[french frank]

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/anathema
surely the indefinite article should be omitted in the first two examples

I didn't know you could anathematise things
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anathematize#English

A quote from Bacon:

1625 Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 71 He would wish to be an Anathema from Christ, for the Saluation of his Brethren.

I would say it in an 'anglicisation' in the way that anathemas is an alternative to anathemata (cf e.g. stigmas/stigmata). I suppose it depends whether the speaker 'feels' it to be adjectival (it is accursed/hateful) or nominal (an accursed/hateful thing).

[jean]

'Anathema' has a complicated origin but later (Classical) meanings include (OED) ‘a thing devoted to evil, an accursed thing’, I suspect the origin of the non use of an article stemmed from an awareness of the classical origin where there was no article.

Greek does have an defiinite article, though; it's only Latin that has no articles at all.

Homer uses anathema to mean a delight, ornament, but my dictionary is too small to tell me if he used an article with it.

Whether the schoolmasterly rule was established because it was understood as being formed from 'an athema', I could not say.

They were probably hypercorrecting for fear of making a hoi polloi-style mistake.

[Serial_Apologist]

'Anathema' has a complicated origin but later (Classical) meanings include (OED) ‘a thing devoted to evil, an accursed thing’, I suspect the origin of the non use of an article stemmed from an awareness of the classical origin where there was no article.

Whether the schoolmasterly rule was established because it was understood as being formed from 'an athema', I could not say.

Isn't it much the same as saying, "Swearing in church would be sacrilege"?

[french frank]

Isn't it much the same as saying, "Swearing in church would be sacrilege"?

Perhaps. Though I wouldn't say it was incorrect to say 'would be a sacrilege' (an example of an act of sacrilege rather than sacrilegious); just less idiomatic.

[mercia]

have we done with plethora ?

my question - are both disoriented and disorientated valid ? which do you prefer ?

[french frank]

have we done with plethora ?

my question - are both disoriented and disorientated valid ? which do you prefer ?

I think I use either. I'd say they're both 'invented' verbal forms stemming from the participle oriens, orientis - rising. The French verb orienter is quite old, so perhaps 'disoriented' is the earlier form, the two being parallels with preventive and preventative, where I certainly prefer the first, coming, I presume, from praevenire, while the latter suggests some sort of form like praeventare which I don't think exists.

A thought: French orienter suggests a Latin orientare somewhere, which then supports orientate, disorientate

[mercia]

thanks

I think I prefer disorientated but only because there is a word orientation but not a word oriention [I think]

[jean]

A thought: French orienter suggests a Latin orientare somewhere...

If it does exist it is very late - it's not in Lewis & Short.

[french frank]

If it does exist it is very late - it's not in Lewis & Short.

Certainly not Classical Latin. Rather than 'somewhere' it would have been better to have written *orientare (indicating hypothetical). The verb would have been created from orient on the model of Latin -are first declensions without having a Latin form at all.

[mangerton]

We three kings of orientare?

I think I prefer "disorientated", but probably either would do.

[french frank]

We three kings of orientare?

Benissimo!

[jean]

...Latin -are first declensions...

I know it's late, but conjugations, please. This thread is for pedants, after all.

(Should you wish to edit, I'll delete evidence of my objection.)