4 ms·

>> I’m leaving bioinformatics to go work at a software company with more technically ept people and for a lot more money. More money, good on you. Starting off

>> I’m leaving bioinformatics to go work at a software company with more technically ept people and for a lot more money. More money, good on you. Starting off your critique of your former colleagues with "technically ept people'...not going to get a lot of sympathy for the correctness of your work.

aheilbut 14y ago
Everyone is jumping on that, but (while I had to look it up too) 'ept' actually is a real word: from the OED: ept, adj. Pronunciation: /ɛpt/ Etymology: Back-formation < inept adj. Used as a deliberate antonym of ‘inept’: adroit, appropriate, effective. 1938 E. B. White Let. Oct. (1976) 183, I am much obliged..to you for your warm, courteous, and ept treatment of a rather weak, skinny subject. 1966 Time 30 Sept. 7/1 With the exception of one or two semantic twisters, I think it is a first-rate job—definitely ept, ane and ert. 1976 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 June 15 The obvious answer is summed up by a White House official's sardonic crack: ‘Politically, we're not very ept.’
- christiangenco 14y ago
  That was…surprisingly thorough.
  - gwern 14y ago
    That is the point of the OED: to be comprehensive and include real usages.
    - saraid216 14y ago
      That's the point of any half-decent dictionary. The OED is a gold standard, though.
      - bdr 14y ago
        James Murray was the true Scotsman.
- SilasX 14y ago
  We have the term "adept" though, which is actually in common usage and fits the intended meaning here...
- Paradigma11 14y ago
  Isn't it more likely that he just mispelled "apt".
droithomme 14y ago
Well, ept is obviously a back-formation and a clever and amusing one. Etymology is straight from Latin: ineptus, which is prefix in- plus aptus (fitting or suitable). Interestingly there's also inapt which is quite similar. edit: aheilbut's research on this is much more thorough.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  I used a similar back figuring when describing a co-worker who was in the wrong job... "He's not inept, he is inapt"

aheilbut 14y ago

Everyone is jumping on that, but (while I had to look it up too) 'ept' actually is a real word: from the OED: ept, adj. Pronunciation: /ɛpt/ Etymology: Back-formation < inept adj. Used as a deliberate antonym of ‘inept’: adroit, appropriate, effective. 1938 E. B. White Let. Oct. (1976) 183, I am much obliged..to you for your warm, courteous, and ept treatment of a rather weak, skinny subject. 1966 Time 30 Sept. 7/1 With the exception of one or two semantic twisters, I think it is a first-rate job—definitely ept, ane and ert. 1976 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 June 15 The obvious answer is summed up by a White House official's sardonic crack: ‘Politically, we're not very ept.’

christiangenco 14y ago
That was…surprisingly thorough.
- gwern 14y ago
  That is the point of the OED: to be comprehensive and include real usages.
  - saraid216 14y ago
    That's the point of any half-decent dictionary. The OED is a gold standard, though.
    - bdr 14y ago
      James Murray was the true Scotsman.
SilasX 14y ago
We have the term "adept" though, which is actually in common usage and fits the intended meaning here...
Paradigma11 14y ago
Isn't it more likely that he just mispelled "apt".

droithomme 14y ago

Well, ept is obviously a back-formation and a clever and amusing one. Etymology is straight from Latin: ineptus, which is prefix in- plus aptus (fitting or suitable). Interestingly there's also inapt which is quite similar. edit: aheilbut's research on this is much more thorough.

MartinCron 14y ago
I used a similar back figuring when describing a co-worker who was in the wrong job... "He's not inept, he is inapt"