Re: The new illiterates

Peter T. Daniels <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1171545190.831372.321430@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Paul J Kriha wrote:
John Atkinson <johnacko@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:qItAh.786$4c6.261@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote...
On Feb 13, 1:01 am, "John Atkinson" <johna...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
"Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote...
On Feb 12, 9:49 pm, Padraic Brown <elemti...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Or "Maoridom is bombasted with a lot of negativity." (Rt. Hon.
Helen
Clark, 2003)

I don't think either of those represents "bombard" or "bloviate" --
it
looks like some corner of geekdom has come up with some new sense,
and
from these two quotes, I can't tell what it is!

Whoops, I read "Maoridom" as "Macrodom." Still no hint what she's
saying. Maybe they were New Zealish geeks?

You're kidding of course. Helen has been identified here two or
three
times in the last month or two -- in at least one case, in my reply
to
one of your own posts.

Boy, you'll really lash out about anything, won't you. I did not
express unawareness that Ms. Clark is some sort of NZ politician, only
unfamiliarity with the word "Maoridom."

"-dom" is, according to my SOED, a "living suffix, with the sense of
'condition, state, dignity'; also of 'domain, realm' ".

Such as kingdom, dukedom, earldom, Christendom, fiefdom,
freedom, wisdom, officialdom, professordom, baseballdom,
boredom, as well as (recently coined) fandom.

What does the productivity of the suffix -dom have to do with
misreading "Maori" as "Macro" in a small sans serif font at a
distance, after being primed by the prior occurrence of computer
terminology?

I didn't mean to criticize your misreading of it.
Maoridom is a well established NZ word just like many
other -dom words. However, I am not surprised it's not
readily known in the US so it can be easily misread.
pjk


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: The new illiterates
    ... looks like some corner of geekdom has come up with some new sense, ... from these two quotes, I can't tell what it is! ... express unawareness that Ms. Clark is some sort of NZ politician, ... computer jargon are excuses. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: etymology: fact or conjecture?
    ... Thanks much, Messrs. Daniels and Clark, for your informative, complete ... Prev by Date: ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: The new illiterates
    ... Paul J Kriha wrote: ... looks like some corner of geekdom has come up with some new sense, ... from these two quotes, I can't tell what it is! ... express unawareness that Ms. Clark is some sort of NZ politician, ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: The new illiterates
    ... John Atkinson wrote in message ... looks like some corner of geekdom has come up with some new sense, ... from these two quotes, I can't tell what it is! ... express unawareness that Ms. Clark is some sort of NZ politician, ...
    (sci.lang)
Quantcast