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Post by dannyw on Dec 27, 2008 11:41:54 GMT
Someone doing a German into English dental translation wants to say 'toothbrusher'. It sounds odd to me but seems a sensible, short way to state any of the variations on 'someone brushing their teeth'.
And of course we have 'car driver', 'beer drinker ...
If used – preferrable with or without a hyphen?
Any views?
Many thanks.
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Post by Alan Palmer on Dec 27, 2008 12:40:32 GMT
'Toothbrusher' seems OK to me, if a little clumsy. I think I would use just 'brusher' myself. I shouldn't think there's room for any confusion in a dental piece about what is being brushed.
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Post by Tone on Dec 27, 2008 21:29:21 GMT
>'Toothbrusher' seems OK to me<And OK, by me, except ... ( >confusion in a dental piece about what is being brushed.<) But by whom is the brushing being done? "Toothbrusher" raises the question of the interestingly corresponding "toothbrushee"! Tone
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Post by Alan Palmer on Dec 28, 2008 1:42:13 GMT
By the tooth/brusher!
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Post by Paul Doherty on Dec 28, 2008 14:05:39 GMT
Toothbrusher seems to implies that there is a verb to toothbrush. But toothbrush is a noun.
The verb is surely to brush, so I'd be a tooth brusher.
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Post by Tone on Dec 28, 2008 20:37:29 GMT
And there is a long-standing habit in English of verbing nouns. So I'd happily stick with "toothbrusher". "Tooth brusher" runs the risk of misinterpretation (by me, at least) as a brushing by teeth. The verbing of "toothbrush" precludes that misinterpretation to some degree. However: is the brushing of the teeth (the toothbrushing) being carried out by the possessor of those teeth, or by another person (dentist?) or even by a machine? Hence my concern about the possibility of a "toothbrushee" who presumably possesses the teeth being brushed, but may, or may not be the toothbrusher. Tone
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Glyn
Bronze
Posts: 87
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Post by Glyn on Dec 29, 2008 10:24:49 GMT
I imagine a tooth-brusher to be either a person employed to brush teeth or a device (other than the traditional brush) for the job, like my battery-operated brush. Not sure about "tooth-brushee", Tone. Perhaps "tooth-brusheress".
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Post by Pete on Dec 30, 2008 7:13:05 GMT
I imagine a tooth-brusher to be either a person employed to brush teeth or a device (other than the traditional brush) for the job, like my battery-operated brush. Not sure about "tooth-brushee", Tone. Perhaps "tooth-brusheress". Perhaps this is where we distinguish between a dental hygienist and a toothbrush? ;D
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Post by SusanB on Jan 8, 2009 21:07:57 GMT
Tone, Is your toothbrushee still a toothbrushee if his or her (false) teeth have been taken out to be brushed?
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Post by TfS on Jan 11, 2009 14:47:48 GMT
On the same -ee subject, this was shown to me recently:
Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.
The Washington Post had published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers were asked to supply alternate meanings for common words and this was the first in the list which is shown in full below.
1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs. 2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained. 3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk. 5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent. 6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown. 7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp. 8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash. 9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller. 10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.. 11. Testicle, n. A humorous question in an exam. 12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists. 13. Pokemon, n.. A Rastafarian proctologist. 14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. 15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. 16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men
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Post by Pete on Jan 11, 2009 18:09:49 GMT
Brilliant! Made my day. Thanks, Tfs.
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Post by TfS on Jan 14, 2009 20:37:20 GMT
Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the winners: 1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time. 2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole. 3. Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. 4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly. 5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. 6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. 7. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high 8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. 9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. 10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) 11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. 12. Decafalon (n.): The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. 13. Glibido : All talk and no action. 14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. 15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web. 16. Beelzebug (n.) : Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out. 17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.
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Post by Pete on Jan 14, 2009 20:57:36 GMT
Some of them don't seem to qualify, on the strict rule of only adding, subtracting or changing one letter in the word. But very funny, nonetheless. Thanks, Tfs.
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Post by Sue M-V on Jan 24, 2009 16:03:44 GMT
Great stuff, TfS! Is it only The Washington Post that does this? I wonder if there's a mine of funnies out there that we haven't tapped.
Sue
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Post by Bertie on Jan 26, 2009 5:58:31 GMT
Great stuff, TfS! Is it only The Washington Post that does this? I wonder if there's a mine of funnies out there that we haven't tapped. Sue That wonderful panel game ISIHAC, has a round called "The Uxbridge Dictionary" and many of their hiarious 'mis-definitions' have been published in a book of that name*. Examples I have always remembered: VENEZUELA - A Gondola with a harpoon gun on the bow. DUMBSTRUCK - A white van. A risque one given by Stephen Fry: COUNTRYSIDE - To kill Piers Morgan! *(I might see if the Library has a copy)
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