Tuesday, December 7, 2010

U is for...

UNPREPARED...
.....which is what I am for today's ABC Wednesday.  It's not that I haven't given any thought to it.  I have for days, but nothing seemed to click.
We passed a UNIFORM shop today as I was scurrying to the dentist.  Didn't have time to stop and wasn't in the mood after I left the dentist with a prospective bill of $1300 !!
        Then I thought about doing something about the difference between 'un' and 'in', as in 'inappropriate and 'unappropriate"  Didn't find anything fun there.  They mean just about the same  -- except for me when I hear an 'un'  where I think there should be an 'in' or vice versa.  And that might be accounted for by differences between English English and American English.

      Then, to prove that I did care and I did put forth some effort, I counted all the words beginning with 'un', used as a prefix, in my Oxford American Dictionary.  Yes, I did!  
There were 37 pages encompassing 1228 words. 
And there are some words for which 'un' just isn't acceptable. (I didn't count these). 'Acceptable' isn't one of them.  According to my dictionary inacceptable is just as acceptable as 'unacceptable' although Blogger and/or Word doesn't accept 'inacceptable'.  However 'undefinite' is NOT acceptable.  Only 'indefinite' is.

Are we having fun yet?  You could try checking my figures.  It is more likely that I made a mistake in addition than in deciding which words were definitely using 'un' as a prefix, since I am not good with numbers.  Incidentally, ('in' is not a prefix here) undecisive is acceptable and so is indecisive,  but indecided is not! You might also want to know that 'incidentally' is frequently spelled wrong. Nevertheless, 'infrequent' is quite acceptable, although 'unfrequent' is not!

I began by saying that I was 'unprepared and that is true, however this post sort of evolved 'on the fly' so to speak. No doubt you can tell.

After all that, you may not be surprised if I recommend  Simon Winchester's book which is described as "a tale of murder, insanity and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary". It was published in America  with the title, "The Professor and the Madman." It tells the story of the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.  It was first published in England as "The Surgeon of Crowthorne." ( Why not confuse everyone with two titles for the same book!) If you're not familiar with Simon Winchester you have a delight in store.

Can't possibly imagine what I'm going to do with 'V' next week!

ABC Wednesday is to blame for this blog. 

18 comments:

Sylvia K said...

Well, you certainly gave me a great laugh for the evening! I love your post for the U Day! And I also know about dental bills!!! Just finished paying a whopping one! Have a great week -- and as Scarlett O'Hara once said, Tomorrow is another day!!

Sylvia

Wanda said...

Oh Chris...I think you have a splendid "U" post... I, like Sylvia, had a great laugh as I read on, and on and on with your unprepardness (hahaha) is that a U word???

You certainly had fun with this one...can't wait to see what you come up with for V.

mrsnesbitt said...

Hilarious! Yes ABC Wednesday has this power! lol!

snafu said...

You were Undeterred and Under pressure, never Undone by Unusual Untidy thoughts, you created a Unique and Uproarious post as good as Usual, not to be Underrated. Dentists I Understand are Uniformly expensive and never Under-price their work.

Roger Owen Green said...

I'm fascinated why certain prefixes go w certain roots. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.

I'm sure next week, you'll come up with some vividly vivacious valentine to the readers.

ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Mara said...

You actually counted all the words with UN? Wow, you are my hero of today!

I hate it when they give two different titles to books. I think I haven't got it yet, buy it and then find out I do. Very annoying.

Looking forward to your V entry!

jlshall (Joysweb) said...

What a fun post! My admiration is un-expressible and un-describable!

I've got Simon Winchester's book on my reading list for next year. Sounds great. Didn't know it went by a different title in England. Publishers work in mysterious ways!

Gattina said...

I had the same trouble but for Alphabet Thursday and for the letter K ! that's even worse than U, lol !

Cherdecor said...

Ha! Ha! You are quite the student! I enjoyed this post.

photowannabe said...

How utterly delightful Chris.
I never knew there was a book about the creation of the dictionary. I just may have to read that one.

ChrisJ said...

Snafu:

I knew you'd have fun with this! It runs in the family.

If Simon Winchester's book sales increase, I might just ask for a commission! By the way, my dictionary doesn't list 'uncrease' as a word

ChrisJ said...

Roger: I'm convinced there IS no rhyme or reason!

Paula Scott Molokai Girl Studio said...

Fabulous! For being unprepared! LOL! Yes, I, too, have noticed how many 'un' words there were in the dictionary. They are hard to avoid!
Looking forward to seeing what you do with 'v'. No pressure, of course.

; )

Tumblewords: said...

Wow! U did some fine work here - I'm Uninclined :) to check your figUres or...

Cheryl said...

I love that you're blaming ABC for this! Deadlines are everywhere during the holiday season. I still think you managed to make some sense and suggest a cool book, even if it's got multiple names.

MaR said...

You did fUntastic with the letter U!!!
Cheers!
U is for...

Rune Eide said...

With two "U"s a year, we could then keep this going for 614 years!

Unbelievable...

Gattina said...

Geez ! you must have a new dining room in your mouth with that bill !
I was in the same boat as you to find U words as I am not living in a U-boat to begin with !