Re: Odd construct
| From: | Padraic Brown <agricola@...> |
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| Date: | Friday, October 12, 2001, 21:31 |
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On Fri, 12 Oct 2001, Matthew Pearson wrote:
> I'm not sure how this term came to be used in this way.
I didn't say I liked it, or would ever use it that way...
To me an expletive is that class of words that include the
rude and nasty words. The four letter words, etc.
> What's more
> confusing is that the everyday sense of "expletive" is also employed
> in linguistics, as in the term "expletive insertion". This term refers
> to the insertion of an emphatic element (usually a swear word) in the
> middle of another word--e.g., "abso-fuckin'-lutely!"
Right. I'd probably lump it as a "particle" or some such.
Padraic.
> Matt.