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Pedants' corner
Original poster

Okay - please tell me why I can say...

14 replies

tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:04

"I walked gingerly across the rotten floorboards..."
but can't say: "I was a bit ginger about walking across the rotten boards..." ?

Is it 'cos it would be gingerist?

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witchandchips · 04/06/2008 10:11

my guess is that the meaning of gingerly (the adverb) has mutated away from the meaning of ginger (the adjective). So the gingerly means cautious and ginger means red headed. The other possibility is that gingerly as actually from the noun ginger (the spice)

littlelapin · 04/06/2008 10:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

witchandchips · 04/06/2008 10:17

see dictionary.reference.com/browse/gingerly it looks as though ginger and gingerly actually have different routes

SaintGeorge · 04/06/2008 10:19

Gingerly is from the Latin root genitus meaning ?born? or ?begotten? (past participle of gignere, to beget)

If you were well bred you trod softly, whereas common oiks I assume thumped around in a more elephantine fashion.

Not connected to ginger.

Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:19

So, I can say that I'm feeling delicate, or I'm being careful, but I can't say I'm feeling/being ginger because it now means something else? But I bet it never did exist in that sense (the same as the adverb 'gingerly')!

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Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:23

Ooh, what a brilliant link Witchandchips, it's even got all the foreign translations. I shall amuse myself for days on there!

SainGeorge, I bow to your superior intelligence

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SaintGeorge · 04/06/2008 10:26

Ginger is from Zingiberaceae, different root ('scuse the pun)

Arf. Superior googling talents more like

SaintGeorge · 04/06/2008 10:28

Oh, and I am married to a Ginger (hard 'g') so have had this conversation before .

Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:30

Implying laziness on my part? Am I to infer that you are implying I is lazy?? (This recalls an old office argument discussion about imply/infer)

Anyway, so I can't legitimately go round saying 'I feel a bit ginger' about anything then?

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Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:38

Oh no St George, come back! It's nice here, really it is. Have a choccy biccy, we can't afford to lose you...

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SaintGeorge · 04/06/2008 10:39
Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:47

"See you soon!"

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SaintGeorge · 04/06/2008 10:58

Oh I did it again

Original poster
tearinghairout · 04/06/2008 10:59

Can understand why you're a bit ginger cautious about Pedants' Corner, but we have ginger nobs as well as the choccy ones, you know

Anyway, gotta go, the dog needs walking.

"Come on, Ginger..."

Sorry. Am not gingerist. Am NOT.

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