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Well, linguistically speaking, adding the suffix "-less" to a word implies "without", in English. You can be penniless, having not one penny. You can be homele
by mabbo 4y ago
Well, linguistically speaking, adding the suffix "-less" to a word implies "without", in English.
You can be penniless, having not one penny. You can be homeless- not just fewer homes but by golly none at all. You could be endlessly fearless and remain motionless when facing things that aren't harmless.
Doubtlessly, I've been tasteless in this reply.
- mattigames 4y agoIf English followed stricter rules "stainless" would mean "without stain", and to convey "unable to be stained" we would always use "unstainable" instead, a real but rarely used word.
- throwawaylinux 4y ago> If English followed stricter rules "stainless" would mean "without stain" It does mean that (and/or "unable to be stained").
- mattigames 4y agoSure but I meant without such ambiguity (unable to be stained VS not stained as of now)
- adaml_623 4y agoSince we are on a tangent anyway I've just realised that the current British PM just this week appeared to be using the non-standard definition when talking with a "homeless" man at a soup kitchen over Xmas. I think I'm this case the PM was corrected fairly quickly but the assumption that homeless means having fewer homes explains a lot of government policy
- jamal-kumar 4y agoNo it's worse, he asked the dude if he's in business hahaha Imagine if the prime minister was LARPing a role in the service industry asked you that when you're living in a cardboard box
- selimthegrim 4y agoIf you read the whole conversation it's not as bad as it sounds
- zimpenfish 4y agoI dunno, I've heard/read it and it is pretty bad - "What are you doing this weekend?" is about as tone-deaf as you can get towards a homeless person.
- adaml_623 4y agoI have to agree with you on that point but I still think that the PM needs a lot more time at that soup kitchen before he starts understanding the problems it's actually his job to fix.
- zimpenfish 4y ago> Well, linguistically speaking, adding the suffix "-less" to a word implies "without", in English. It's also frequently an exaggeration and I doubt most people who heard "I'm penniless" or "It's endless" would think "they have zero money" or "this will continue until I die (and beyond)".
- ngcc_hk 4y agoUseful. But back to the subject is this hydrogen thing related to the strange property like ice float unlike nearly all other solid state of matter.