Current Events > Why is penultimate a word?

(+) Yeah! (+)

When has the second to last thing ever been that significant? When did someone sit down and say "the last thing is cool but what about what comes right before that? We need a big ass word that means second to last thing".

Just another word them fancy big city folk like to use to feel superior to the working man

It's pretty significant actually. It's the first thing that isn't, that's why penultimate means second to last but ultimate doesn't neccesarily mean first.

I remember it coming up in phonology classes when talking about the penultimate and antepenultimate syllables of words.

Because people like to think that using Latin derived terms in place of natural English makes them smarter. Imagine if you approached job adverts like these smrat people.

'Ab initio, you will be required to [X] inter alia [Y], recompense discussed de futuro and de jure'

xGhostchantx posted...

Because people like to think that using Latin derived terms in place of natural English makes them smarter.

"derived" ooo so fancy slick talker

It pops up often enough in publication that I actually went and looked up the definition when I was younger. I've only ever done that for a handful of words, usually just skirting by while using inference when reading.

It sounds cool.

Hambo posted...

I remember it coming up in phonology classes when talking about the penultimate and antepenultimate syllables of words.

Thank you for sending me down a small rabbit hole showing that this chain goes to at least propreantepenultimate. I hope your next meal is slightly undercooked.

How else would you describe the best fountain pen?

Penis+ultimate=penultimate

xGhostchantx posted...

Because people like to think that using Latin derived terms in place of natural English makes them smarter.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-origins/#:~:text=About%2080%20percent%20of%20the,have%20Greek%20or%20Latin%20roots.

Robot2600 posted...

"derived" ooo so fancy slick talker

I try to do away with Latinates, but it's been drilled into me because of school (B.Ling)

FigureOfSpeech posted...

https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-origins/#:~:text=About%2080%20percent%20of%20the,have%20Greek%20or%20Latin%20roots.

I haven't read this entirely, but it's slightly misleading (I'm a B.Ling focused on old and middle English, see sig). Everyday speech is over 80% English, it's moreso when you're getting into technical and modern terms (i.e., 'police' being one of the most common words for police worldwide, regardless of substrate/primary influence); though there's a lot of Anglicized Latin terms these days, and being naturalized they're considered modern 'English' words. With a thesaurus and some mindfulness (care, consideration, in concern to) and mindliness (creativity, spirit), you can push that to over 90%.

discussion of second-to-lasts comes up a lot

Illuminoius posted...

discussion of second-to-lasts comes up a lot

Tbh, if modern English had kept stricter Germanic conventions, the endebyrdlcu etal (ordinal) would be twother (from twaer, unattested but compounded naturally; there's others that could be used but they'd make little aesthetic sense in modern English), two + other, 'the other second'

xGhostchantx posted...

Tbh, if modern English had kept stricter Germanic conventions, the endebyrdlcu etal (ordinal) would be twother (from twaer, unattested but compounded naturally; there's others that could be used but they'd make little aesthetic sense in modern English), two + other, 'the other second'

I hate everything about this post.

False final boss?

Illuminoius posted...

discussion of second-to-lasts comes up a lot

Wouldn't that be the one before the penultimate?

Verdekal posted...

Wouldn't that be the one before the penultimate?

...What do you think penultimate means?

Verdekal posted...

Wouldn't that be the one before the penultimate?

"Second to last" means "the one before the last," which is just the effective definition of penultimate.

specialkid8 posted...

Thank you for sending me down a small rabbit hole showing that this chain goes to at least propreantepenultimate. I hope your next meal is slightly undercooked.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/6/3/AADHstAAD9PP.jpg
Also the undercooked food thing is a beautiful way to say "fuck you." Imma hafta keep that one in mind.

DeadBankerDream posted...

I hate everything about this post.

>:(

nglis ofer ealles