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Nice point. The etymology of the word bossy, boss with the -y suffix, suggests that the lady manager is acting like a boss but she is not a boss. The writer he
by ronaldx 13y ago
Nice point.
The etymology of the word bossy, boss with the -y suffix, suggests that the lady manager is acting like a boss but she is not a boss. The writer here makes it clear that this is intended to have a negative connotation and is therefore questioning her authority.
Recent meme has reinforced that. If we want to express this idea positively, we don't say "bossy", we say "like a boss".
"Bossy" means you are acting like a boss but in a way which is disapproved of. If this word is targeted more often at women, then that deserves reflection (especially in cases where we would praise men for the same behaviour).
- smacktoward 13y ago> "Bossy" means you are acting like a boss but in a way which is disapproved of. I think your first point is stronger -- not that it's like a boss in a way that's disapproved of, but that it's like a boss in a way that's illegitimate or unearned. It's a challenge to the legitimacy of the leadership status of the person it's aimed at, in other words; a real boss can never be "bossy", because they have a legitimate right to boss people around. "Bossy" implies that the person it's aimed at doesn't have that right.
- dfc 13y ago> Recent meme has reinforced that. If we want to express this idea positively, we don't say "bossy", we say "like a boss". Similes require nouns and bossy is an adjective/adverb. How are we supposed to draw any conclusions from the use of boss? I have never heard someone use bossy to praise the actions of a male.
- 001sky 13y agoIn english, a "noun_y" suffix signifies an approximate imperfection (ie a quasi~noun). Or in other words, a "corruption of concept". This is why you don't praise someone as "like a quasi-X". You rather say, "like an X". TLDR: simple grammar, once understood, explains it.
- dfc 13y agoI am not sure what you are getting at. Can you give one or two examples and how they relate to: > Recent meme has reinforced that. If we want to express this idea positively, > we don't say "bossy", we say "like a boss".
- 001sky 13y agochoss_y rock (clean rock) loss_y copies (high fidelity copies) the opposite of boss_y is nice (BTW, which means "accurate and well measured") bossy means ill-considered and lacking in awareness#
- aroch 13y agoIt's called lossy because it loses data in encoding...its not bad solely because od the y.
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- dfc 13y agoI think 128k mp3s recordings sound tinny, but as someone else pointed out that is because of the lossy data encoding. The distortion is not as noticeable in the early Dead shows --you know the ones with PigPen that have that bluesy feel--but I think it ruins the jazzy sound of late 70s early 80s Jerry songs. But all this talk of bootlegs and the Dead might be to heady of a discussion for HN. Suffice it to say I think flacs/shns are sexy and low bitrate VBR mp3s are shitty. There are lots of noun+y words that do not fit your theory, but linguistics is a messy endeavor.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]