Is there an opposite “-ism” word to nepotism? If nepotism refers to the nature of favoring one due to familial or friendly relations, surely there is an antonym to nepotism that conveys the favoring of one due to merit or productivity. However, “meritism” and “productivism” are not words. Meritorious and productivity work in a pinch … Read more
Just like the relationship between employer and employee, what is the word for the receiving side of a mention? An example of a sentence: The mentioner mentions the mentionnee, but mentionnee is not a word… Another example is if we have two types of people, one is sending mentions they are the mentioners, the other … Read more
I know a handful of cities whose denizens can be called "city+er", e.g. Londoner. But is this construction still in active use today and can new demonyms be formed by it? Answer Sure. It is perfectly productive, with the fine print indicated in John Lawler’s comment, i.e., limited applicability: not every place name will sit … Read more
Is the word “versionize” a real word or is it a form of bastardization of English? Additional Info: I came across this word in a software feature tracker. The feature called for something in the software to have the ability to save versions of it. It went something like “…Versionize feature X…“ Interestingly, a lot … Read more
I imagine there must be a term/idiom/phrase for polishing something too early… For example: Painting the walls of a room before completing other work which may accidentally damage them. Adding detail to a section of a drawing that you may likely need to radically change later (and lose the detail work) Optimizing a software function … Read more
The main question here is whether using -(e)th to create ordinals out of cardinals1 is still considered a productive suffix in English. Is it? If so, then does it matter whether we are in a formal or informal register? Is it accepted in some contexts but not in others? Is it blocked by certain circumstances? … Read more
Given the different questions we have seen about the prefixes “de-” and “un-“, I have grown curious if there is a overarching rule for terms that need undoing. “Unselect” or “Deselect”? “Unregister” vs “Deregister” For actions taken that need to be revoked or reversed, which prefix is preferred? Is there a distinction created by the … Read more
