Jeremy Stein - Journal
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Nounishness
Sometimes a certain form of a word becomes so much more common than the root word that when people want to use the word in its original part of speech, they add an additional suffix rather than revert to the root word.
Here’s an example:
incentivize
The root word is the verb “incent”. When changed to a noun, it becomes “incentive”. When people want to use “incentive” as a verb, they say “incentivize”. That means exactly the same thing as “incent”.
See what I mean?
Here are words I’ve heard used where a simpler form would have sufficed:
- carefulness (care)
- zealousness (zeal)
- deliriousness (delirium)
- disgustedness (disgust)
- powerfulness (power)
- guiltiness (guilt)
- filthiness (filth)
- speediness (speed)
- wittiness (wit)
- cheerfulness (cheer)
- courageousness (courage)
- cautiousness (caution)
- mischievousness (mischief)
- pretentiousness (pretense)
- modernistic (modern)
- easiness (ease)
- uneasiness (unease)
- avariciousness (come on, there’s no excuse for this one – avarice!)
- valuableness (value)
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