I regularly hear people use "incidence" (frequency of occurrence) in place of "incident". They are then forced into "incidences" in place of "incidents".
I stumbled across this and realized what I was seeing when I was studying Afrikaans - though now I can't recall exactly what triggered my realization that whole and heal are cognates with overlapping meaning. In our New Age philosophies, we see "oneness" and healing and feeling whole and... OK, this is a stretch... healthy foods like organic, soy-based granola. That last one can't be a real connection, but it was fun.
After that, hale, heil and holy (but not holey - an antonymic homonym) were the most fun to link.
Comments by umlando
umlando commented on the word incidence
I regularly hear people use "incidence" (frequency of occurrence) in place of "incident". They are then forced into "incidences" in place of "incidents".
definitions:
"incident" is a occurrence
"incidence" is how frequently something occurs
usage:
"I was there. I saw the whole incident."
"The incidence of malapropisms is declining."
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This message has been brought to you by the nerd who read the dictionary when he was a child, and by three cups of his very strong coffee.
December 29, 2007
umlando commented on the word mandeville
As in John de-, the mythical traveler?
December 29, 2007
umlando commented on the list what-s-the-point
steak, stuck and pike depend on spit! - at least, according to our friends at Etymology online
December 27, 2007
umlando commented on the list cognates-for-physical-integrity
I stumbled across this and realized what I was seeing when I was studying Afrikaans - though now I can't recall exactly what triggered my realization that whole and heal are cognates with overlapping meaning. In our New Age philosophies, we see "oneness" and healing and feeling whole and... OK, this is a stretch... healthy foods like organic, soy-based granola. That last one can't be a real connection, but it was fun.
After that, hale, heil and holy (but not holey - an antonymic homonym) were the most fun to link.
December 27, 2007