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Binette to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world · 2 年前

Just realized that "upside down" means "the up side is down", making it upside down

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Just realized that "upside down" means "the up side is down", making it upside down

Binette to Showerthoughts@lemmy.world · 2 年前
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  • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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    2 年前

    Shhh! Nobody tell them about “inside out.”

    • s38b35M5@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      Don’t tell them about insid-- dang! Too late

    • SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      Why isn’t it outside in?

      • Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works
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        2 年前

        It could be to do with something called “ablaut reduplication”. Very basically English has a - kind of - untaught sound order that native speakers inherently apply to the language. Wikipedia will have an article to explain it better. Specifically the vowel order I-A-O. A great example is the phrase “Bish bash bosh” which is getting coverage recently. (One notable exception is “shit, shower, shave” but that is probably down to the chronology of the actions.)

        • Welt@lazysoci.al
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          2 年前

          Spot on insight :)

      • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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        2 年前

        Kif! We have a conundrum!

  • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
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    2 年前

    How else would one interpret it?

    • BinetteOP
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      2 年前

      It’s not really that I interpret it in another way, but I never really thought about the structure of the word 😅

      • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
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        2 年前

        I’ve had similar realizations about words like “across” and “again”.

        • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
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          2 年前

          I get “across”, but what about again?

          • Trex202@lemmy.world
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            2 年前

            A gain. In addition to.

          • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
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            2 年前

            “A gain” as in one more. Gain meaning “an increase in amount”

      • Albbi@lemmy.ca
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        2 年前

        Yeah, actually I had never thought about the structure of the word either. Thanks for the great shower thought!

      • _sideffect@lemmy.world
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        2 年前

        Ha same

      • flerp@lemm.ee
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        2 年前

        I’ve definitely had a similar feeling with band names and brand names, etc. You’re just so used to hearing them that they are their own thing without being the component words that the name contains.

    • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
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      2 年前

      I think the pronunciation, specifically the blending of the end of “upside” and beginning of “down”, turns it into one of those compound words that your brain interprets as an independent word, rather than a combination of its composite parts.

      • s38b35M5@lemmy.world
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        2 年前

        Unused to wonder if the radio announcers that are always reciting the station call letters found that the letters stopped sounding like individual sounds, and the whole recitation became a sort of “word” for them. Like “You’re listening to 102.9FM WBLM!” Did it stop being “double-you bee ell emm,” and turn into more of a mashup of “dubbleyabeeyelmm”?

        True, the difference is pretty subtle, especially to a listener, but I wonder strange things sometimes…

        • Kiosade@lemmy.ca
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          2 年前

          As a fellow wonderer of strange things, all I have to say is keep wondering, my friend :)

      • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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        2 年前

        I think this is the case for a lot of words. It ceases to be a combination of words and it’s just one word. Then in the shower you break it down and ohhh.

    • Blaster M@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      Downside up?

      • Zeppo@sh.itjust.works
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        2 年前

        Down on the upside

        • Artemis
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          2 年前

          Yes! So glad someone else though of this 😎

  • abominable_panda@lemmy.world
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    2 年前

    Now explain why some people are “down for things” while others are “up for it”

    • PotatoKat@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      https://youtu.be/bTqU4bKycFo

      • PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocksB
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        2 年前

        Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

        https://piped.video/bTqU4bKycFo

        Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

        I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

      • uranibaba@lemmy.worlddeleted by creator
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        2 年前

        I never watch linked videos but this one was worth it.

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      2 年前

      Why do you park in a driveway and drive in a parkway? What is the deal?

  • xkbx@startrek.website
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    2 年前

    Wait until you find out “bottoms up” isn’t about a group of people taking an elevator to get mimosas

    • surewhynotlem@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      Get your bottom in that elevator and take it up to the bar

  • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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    2 年前

    Brave of you to post this

  • Ticklemytip@lemmy.world
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    2 年前

    TIL that people didn’t get this. I had a similar situation where I would pronounce unleaded as unleeded

    • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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      2 年前

      Oh, I used to do this all the time. You see a word in print, but you never hear anybody say it, so you wind up pronouncing it wrong.

      I think the best was when I pronounced “misled” as my-seld because I thought it was the past tense of “misle”.

      • Wilzax@lemmy.world
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        2 年前

        The spelling of some words can be very Ms. Leeding

  • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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    Wait until you learn the news is new.

    • BinetteOP
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      In French, it’s also the same origin (nouvelles = news; nouvelle/nouveau = new)

    • Anarchistcowboy@lemmy.world
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      Damnit someone just last week told me it was an acronym for notable events weather and sports but this makes more sense

      • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world
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        A good rule of thumb is that any word etymology that is an acronym is probably false if the word is more than 100 years old.

  • jol@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 年前

    Well, yeah. That’s… how words work?

    • NorthWestWind@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      “Right-side up”

  • NorthWestWind@lemmy.world
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    2 年前

    Does “right-side up” mean the right side is up or the “right” side is up? English does not make sense

    also hi binette

    • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
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      Right = correct

      “The correct side is up”

      I agree, English is a mess.

    • BinetteOP
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      Right as in correct.

      hi nww :D

      • mexicancartel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        Right as incorrect.

        Stupid english

        • Welt@lazysoci.al
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          Totally. The right hand I use to write with is not my right hand, it’s my left (averechts, if you will)

    • BigAssFan@lemmy.world
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      2 年前

      So right side up means its on it’s side?

    • fruitycoder@sh.itjust.works
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      2 年前

      English where feat smell and noses run

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        Feet, not feat

      • Welt@lazysoci.al
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        Artist: English feat. Smell & No$3$

        Track: Run

  • terminally_offline@infosec.pub
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    Removed by mod

    • terminally_offline@infosec.pub
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      Removed by mod

  • nialv7@lemmy.world
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    Always funny to see native speakers discover trivial facts about their language

    • akakunai@lemmy.ca
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      Took me until high school to realize bonjour=bon jour=good day. My brain just about exploded. Worldview destroyed.

  • BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world
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    Removed by mod

    • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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      Go away with that attitude.

      • terminally_offline@infosec.pub
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        deleted by creator

        • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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          If you haven’t noticed there’s a lot of negativity on this platform, your comment included. It really needs to change.

          • terminally_offline@infosec.pub
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            deleted by creator

            • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
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              Overlooks that was to someone that called someone dense and that I specified “with that attitude”. 😬 Just like I called out your comment. This is not a paradox of intolerance.

              And a quick look at your profile shows that you are rife with those kind of comments.

      • BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world
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        🚪🚶‍♂️

  • InFerNo
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    I’m my language it’s “bottom up” (ondersteboven).

    Also came to a similar realization in my language with “averechts”, which means the other way around.

    Rechts = right (side, from my pov)

    Averechts = ave ( dialect for “your”) right side.

    You’re basically communicating “my right or your right”. Asking for right or left can be done by saying rechts or averechts.

    Also besides ondersteboven and averechts, we have achterstevoren, which means back side in front.

    • MP3Martin@programming.dev
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      We say something like “legs up”

      • Hule@lemmy.world
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        “Head’s down” team here

    • Welt@lazysoci.al
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      Nice one, a bit like right vs stage right

    • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Keine “links?”

      Mein deutsch ist sehr schlect, ich hatte zwei jahren fünfzehn jahren zuvor LAL (lachen aus louter).

      • CoggyMcFee@lemmy.world
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        OP is using Dutch, not German

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 年前

          Scheiße

      • InFerNo
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        Tis geen Duits, mijn vriend.

        It’s not German.

        • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          Scheiße lmao

  • zarkanian@sh.itjust.works
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    This reminds me of the time I had a co-worker tell me “That’s why they call it ‘work’. 'Cause you’re working!”

    • BinetteOP
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      I mean it’s more that it’s “working” because it’s “work”

  • Resol van Lemmy@lemmy.world
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    The opposite of “upside down” is not “downside up”, but “right-side up”.

    The opposite of “right-side up” is not “left-side down”, but “upside down”.

    Ladies, gentlemen, and all in between. The English language.

    • ElectricVocalist@jlai.lu
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      The up side is the right side. The down side is the wrong side. Quite logical to me

      • Resol van Lemmy@lemmy.world
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        You’ve just made it make sense. Have an upvote of my gratitude.

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