insertion of word(s) between syllables of another

Post by **Phil White** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:29 pm

Originally posted by Meirav MicklemWell, that's one way of keeping your readers hooked - why bother with tension in the plot if you can just keep them reading on in their desire to find out how the verb ends.

The entire German language functions on this principle.

Erik_Kowal · Post by **Erik_Kowal** » Wed May 23, 2007 8:10 am

I suspect it is to compensate for the ferociously long agglutinated nouns that are liable to accrete in German sentences: in order to lighten the texture of their claggy trails of nominal clods, German speakers formulated the separable verb as a kind of linguistic baking powder that they could distribute in pinches among the lumpy nouns, hoping this would puff their leaden sentences up with some artificial liveliness.

This probably seemed like a good idea at the time.

trolley · Post by **trolley** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:49 pm

...all the while, forming pyramids and frightening the children...

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Fri May 25, 2007 9:16 pm

Who the hell is Moe?

Edwin Ashworth · Post by **Edwin Ashworth** » Sat May 26, 2007 10:09 pm

Very interesting ... but ... I thought that the Germans invented the separable verb so that they could fit it into the back of a VW Beetle.

Erik_Kowal · Post by **Erik_Kowal** » Sat May 26, 2007 10:43 pm

The separation anxiety of the Germans also caused them to invent the beetle drive.

gdwdwrkr · Post by **gdwdwrkr** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:24 am

Moe would fit in the front...

Edwin Ashworth · Post by **Edwin Ashworth** » Sun May 27, 2007 1:34 pm

Ah yes (,) Shelley, I had forgotten that they drive backwards on the Continent. This is probably because of the difficulty of seeing forwards through a Beetle haircut.

Erik_Kowal · Post by **Erik_Kowal** » Mon May 28, 2007 6:49 am

This problem led Volkswagen to introduce its Beetle convertible, or 'mop top'.

Edwin Ashworth · Post by **Edwin Ashworth** » Mon May 28, 2007 3:39 pm

The rumoured BMW 3-Series toupé is probably a figment of Mop Top Gear's imagination.

Erik_Kowal · Post by **Erik_Kowal** » Mon May 28, 2007 5:41 pm

You seem to feel that that show is too prone to making bald statements -- personally, I couldn't hair less.

Edwin Ashworth · Post by **Edwin Ashworth** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:18 am

A good lock can be advantageous . . .

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Tue May 29, 2007 11:27 am

Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk . . .

Edwin Ashworth · Post by **Edwin Ashworth** » Thu May 31, 2007 2:09 pm

. . . especially on a hairpin bend.

Erik_Kowal · Post by **Erik_Kowal** » Thu May 31, 2007 8:59 pm

Maintaining grip on a hairpin is especially important at Kirby Hill.