The Word Game
For many years my family has had a sort of word game, usually played at
the dinner table. The way it works is that someone will mention
a word that consists of a Latin prefix and root. Then, after comeing
up with all the other words in English that use the same root word,
we would try to figure out what the root word means. After that comes a
round of combining other prefixes with the root with the intent of
creating new, functional (and often silly) words.
The only real rule to the game is that the root form should
not be a complete word in itself (e.g. "untie" isn't a
good word to start with because "tie" is already an English
word). Combining the Latin root with a Greek prefix isn't the best
of form, but sometimes it just needs to be done.
Yes, my whole family is as ... quirky ... as I am.
At any rate, it recently occurred to me to note down some of
the more interesting examples from the game.
Words:
depend, impend, expend
Root: -pend
(from L. dependere, "to hang from, hang down")
Neologism:
circumpend - "to hang around"
Words:
explode, implode
Root: -plode
(from L. plaudere, "to clap the hands, applaud")
Neologism:
replode - "to blow up all over again"
Words:
admit, transmit, emit, commit
Root: -mit
(from L. mittere, "to release, let go; send, throw")
Neologism:
exmit - "to throw out"
abmit - "to throw in" (He gave up and abmitted the towel)
supermit - "to throw up"
Words:
infect, defect, confect, affect, effect
Root: -fect
(from L. facere, "to make, to do")
Neologism:
superfect - "to make up"
Words:
promote, demote, remote
Root: -mote
(from L. movere, "to move")
Neologism:
conmote - "to crash" (i.e. move together)
