I think actionable has a precise legal meaning, not sure I know of it in other contexts.
Buffy. When I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. Turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of 'apocalypse.'
Riley ,'Potential'
Natter 64: Yes, we still need you
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
bon bon - Sep 15, 2009 7:12:33 pm PDT #9030 of 30001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
Hil R. - Sep 15, 2009 7:12:37 pm PDT #9031 of 30001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
I think that "beg the question" is a weird translation from a Latin phrase that, in a more modern translation, would make more sense. (I can't remember what the Latin is, though.)
Allyson - Sep 15, 2009 7:13:47 pm PDT #9032 of 30001
Wait, is this real-world child support, where the money goes to buy food for the kids, or MRA fantasyland child support where the women just buy Ferraris and cocaine? -Jessica
(Which begs the question: why are we so keen to retain archaic meanings when the new ones are so useful?)
This is a job for erinaceous!
DavidS - Sep 15, 2009 7:15:59 pm PDT #9033 of 30001
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
This is a job for erinaceous!
She's no prescriptivist.
She is, however, a Northern Californian now.
bon bon - Sep 15, 2009 7:16:06 pm PDT #9034 of 30001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
I just used wordnik for the first time to see other uses for the word "actionable." Now that is a useful site!
§ ita § - Sep 15, 2009 7:16:23 pm PDT #9035 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I have never heard decimate used in the traditional sense
They did it right on Dr. Who, bless them. I first learnt it in the traditional sense, and it was a while before I heard it used conventionally and wrong.
As for the samurai sword--there aren't that many of them around that are that sharp--most would be replicas. I don't know if mine would take that good an edge. My blades that would get that sharp are shorter and are probably ill-suited for swinging at an extremity. More something you'd lodge in someone's clavicle.
I have been idly looking for a sword-sharpener for ages. I thought I'd found one, but he moved out of state. I should have gotten them all done when I had the disposable income, dammit. I just never looked seriously enough. It's not like it's a hard search.
§ ita § - Sep 15, 2009 7:18:36 pm PDT #9036 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Special K:
why are we so keen to retain archaic meanings when the new ones are so useful?
Decimate ain't one of those. Devastate works just fine. One might not mean decimate often, but when you do, how many other words work as well?
Dear lord, I still seem to be watching 90210. And Melrose Place. Which seems to have a murderer. And a whore. And an art thief. It's total crack, even compared to the original.
bon bon - Sep 15, 2009 7:23:02 pm PDT #9037 of 30001
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
I could probably rephrase:
why are we so keen to retain archaic meanings when they are so useless?
I always cringe when people use decimate instead of devastate, but I fully admit that that's just priggishness on my part, because I'm smart enough to have been told the difference at some point. Stephen Fry talked me out of it in a podcast last year.
Dana - Sep 15, 2009 7:23:53 pm PDT #9038 of 30001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Damn it, ita beat me to Doctor Who. The Master may be nuts, but he's precise.
§ ita § - Sep 15, 2009 7:26:36 pm PDT #9039 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I'm smart enough to have been told the difference at some point
You don't have to be smart to have been told the difference. You don't even have to be that smart to remember the difference. I just don't get why we need to lose a word. And break a perfectly sensible etymology by inserting "and then, at some point, everyone just got stupid and started using it wrong." It's got "deci" right in there.