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Re: Offensive stress (was: those irregular prepositions)

From:caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
Date:Friday, June 23, 2006, 2:35
>>Michael Adams <abrigon@...> schrieb:
>> Pro = For >> Con = against, opposite of Pro. >> >> Progress = good and forwarded going >> Congress = ?
>Steven Williams <feurieaux@...> wrote:
>Actually, in Latin, 'con' (which was a reduced form of >'cum') meant 'with'.
>It wasn't the opposite of 'for', but it could have a >negative meaning, just like 'with' can be used with >'fight', in the same sense as 'against' --- 'to fight >with/against inner demons'.
Actually, in this expression, "con" is short for "contra" which does mean "against." It has nothing to do with "with," except in its derivation: contra < a PIE suffixed form *kom-tra. Charlie

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Steven Williams <feurieaux@...>