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Anyone else learn a new meaning to the word "founder"? Thought it was a typo for "flounder" only to learn that it can also mean "to give way, collapse." Stay we
by andrew_ 8y ago
Anyone else learn a new meaning to the word "founder"? Thought it was a typo for "flounder" only to learn that it can also mean "to give way, collapse." Stay weird, English.
- toadworrier 8y agoI think of it as "The ship foundered on the rocks". Of course I suppose if a fish did the same thing we might have a foundering flounder.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agodictionary.com says that flounder may have come from a combination of flounce and founder (back around 1570 or 1580).
- jessaustin 8y ago"founder" is a fairly gruesome injury to horses' hooves. For most of my life this was the meaning that would have first come to mind. HN has fixed that...
- adrianratnapala 8y agoFor me the first meaning that comes to mind is a leader of the American Revolutionary War. Wig and all. And I'm not even American.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y agoI didn't know this either. Amusing. Many founders do founder. verb (used without object) (of a ship, boat, etc.) to fill with water and sink. to fall or sink down, as buildings, ground, etc.: Built on a former lake bed, the building has foundered nearly ten feet. to become wrecked; fail utterly: The project foundered because public support was lacking. to stumble, break down, or go lame, as a horse: to become ill from overeating. Veterinary Pathology. (of a horse) to suffer from laminitis.
- dannyobrien 8y agoSee also the double meaning of “career”.
- rplst8 8y agoHuh. Crazy. I never new that meaning of "career" and have only used careen in that sense. Which according to Google is a North American thing.