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I used to have a hard time remembering apropos because I assumed 'apropos' was some sort of unixy mincing of another word or abbreviation or something, and I co
by RobertMiller 5y ago
I used to have a hard time remembering apropos because I assumed 'apropos' was some sort of unixy mincing of another word or abbreviation or something, and I couldn't figure out what it meant. You know, like 'mkdir' means "MaKe DIRectory"
But it turns out apropos is just a regular word. Once I learned this, I haven't had any more trouble with it.
apropos : Of an appropriate or pertinent nature.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apropos https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apropos
- zfxfr 5y agoOhh I always thought "apropos" was from the French expression "à propos (de)... " which means "about". I naïvely believed that the person who coded this command must be French.
- killerbat00 5y agoThe English usage is borrowed from French![0] However, it doesn't look like the original author was French[1]. I shouldn't be, but I am quite surprised to see that the apropos command as we know it is 43 years old! [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apropos https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/apropos [1] https://www.mankier.com/1/apropos.mandoc#History https://www.mankier.com/1/apropos.mandoc#History
- Isamu 5y agoYou are correct about the origin except it came from French into English long ago.
- ochrist 5y agoIt's an ordinary word in Danish, meaning 'about something'. It can be used at the start of a sentence. Example: "Apropos vegetables I hate tomatoes".