howard richler    996647 Sat, 28 Aug 04 10:20 PM Both the prefixes un- and in- carry the sense of negation in English. Can anybody think of a word that came into our language with the in- prefix used for negation after the start of the 20th century? howard richler Prefixes, Negations

	Ben Zimmer    996835 Sun, 29 Aug 04 07:23 AM "Both the prefixes un- and in- carry the sense of negation in English. Can anybody think of a word that came into our language with the in- prefix used for negation after the start of the 20th century?" Well, there's "innumerate/innumeracy", based on "illiterate/illiteracy" (first OED citation, 1959). And then there's that old bugaboo "irregardless" (first citation, 1912). Ben Zimmer Prefixes, Negations

	Mike Lyle    997083 Sun, 29 Aug 04 09:29 PM "Both the prefixes un- and in- carry the sense of ... used for negation after the start of the 20th century?" "Well, there's "innumerate/innumeracy", based on "illiterate/illiteracy" (first OED citation, 1959). And then there's that old bugaboo "irregardless" (first citation, 1912)." I'd like to offer "inhopefully", in the hope that it escapes from Google into the wild. But how many adjectives have been coined since 1901? Plenty of nouns, but, other than "numerate" I can't off-hand think of an adjective which seems likely to be new. I have used "intesticulate" a couple of times in these pages, but those seem like the lot (of course they can't be). Mike. Mike Lyle Nouns, Prefixes, Adjectives, Negations

	Paul Wolff    997110 Sun, 29 Aug 04 09:59 PM "Well, there's "innumerate/innumeracy", based on "illiterate/illiteracy" (first OED citation, 1959). And then there's that old bugaboo "irregardless" (first citation, 1912)." "I'd like to offer "inhopefully", in the hope that it escapes from Google into the wild. But how many adjectives ... used "intesticulate" a couple of times in these pages, but those seem like the lot (of course they can't be)." Describing a man who dies without expressed heirs, and telling you why at the same time? Paul In bocca al Lupo! Paul Wolff Adjectives, Negations

	Andrew Gwilliam    997120 Sun, 29 Aug 04 10:15 PM "Well, there's "innumerate/innumeracy", based on "illiterate/illiteracy" (first OED citation, 1959). And then there's that old bugaboo "irregardless" (first citation, 1912)." I suppose I'm stating the obvious with an observation that forms in "in-" will be resisted because of connotations of "movement into", etc. "I'd like to offer "inhopefully", in the hope that it escapes from Google into the wild. But how many adjectives ... used "intesticulate" a couple of times in these pages, but those seem like the lot (of course they can't be)." Apparently "numerate" is fifteenth-century. I don't know why, but "I can't off-hand think" looks really odd in writing, even though it would be entirely natural in speech. Life, huh? Andrew Gwilliam To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm" Andrew Gwilliam Speaking, Speeches, Adjectives, Negations

	Ben Zimmer    997121 Sun, 29 Aug 04 10:17 PM "But how many adjectives have been coined since 1901? Plenty of nouns, but, other than "numerate" I can't ... used "intesticulate" a couple of times in these pages, but those seem like the lot (of course they can't be)." Seriously? A search on the online OED for adjectives with a first cited date after 1900 yields about 5,000 entries. Some examples from the a's: addictive adenoidal Afrocentric after-school ageist ahistorical allergic all-purpose all-you-can-eat alphanumeric ambisexual ambivalent anorexic anthemic anti-aircraft antiviral A-OK apolitical assaultive ass-backward asymptomatic atonal Austronesian Ben Zimmer Nouns, Adjectives, Negations

	Ben Zimmer    997151 Sun, 29 Aug 04 10:54 PM "But how many adjectives have been coined since ... those seem like the lot (of course they can't be)." "Apparently "numerate" is fifteenth-century." "Numerate" meaning "numbered" dates to the 15th century (now obsolete). "Numerate" meaning "able to understand/use numbers" dates to a 1959 report produced by the UK's Central Advisory Council for Education. Ben Zimmer Adjectives, Negations

	Andrew Gwilliam    997153 Sun, 29 Aug 04 10:59 PM "Apparently "numerate" is fifteenth-century." ""Numerate" meaning "numbered" dates to the 15th century (now obsolete). "Numerate" meaning "able to understand/use numbers" dates to a 1959 report produced by the UK's Central Advisory Council for Education." Without having read said report, it seems a bit unlikely that the authors would have just made the word up. Isn't it more likely that it's older, just unattested? Andrew Gwilliam To email me, replace "bottomless pit" with "silverhelm" Andrew Gwilliam Negations

	Peter T. Daniels    997166 Sun, 29 Aug 04 11:20 PM ""Numerate" meaning "numbered" dates to the 15th century (now obsolete). ... report produced by the UK's Central Advisory Council for Education." "Without having read said report, it seems a bit unlikely that the authors would have just made the word up. Isn't it more likely that it's older, just unattested?" This sense is an obvious calque off "illiterate," so if the concept existed before 1959, then the word probably did. But there's no evidence of that, is there? Does the 1959 report say something like "... for which we have devised the term 'numerate'"? Peter T. Daniels (Email Removed) Peter T. Daniels Negations