Say What Now?

In an episode of Allison I used the word “rusticizing”, meaning the process of making something rustic. There’s an artifice to the process that appeals. Tonight I ran the spelling checker on Allison and naturally that word was flagged. No biggie, I made it up.

One of the suggested alternatives: rrsticizing.

Umm… wha—?

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4 thoughts on “Say What Now?

  1. Have you read your email lately? We are looking at a January 15 deadline to complete the guest list for the eclipse. Hoping you can convince That Girl to come.

  2. Me too, I sent email about Athena. Not pressuring you for a response – this has to do with the fact the university has been dealing with a brand new and quite buggy email server since late last year. I worry that emails I send don’t actually work. Not trying to force you into quick responses.

  3. I sent a reply to Dad’s email, but haven’t picked Athena back up/ I did read your comments though, and they look very helpful. And you’re right, it’s probably time for a fresh set of eyes on it, since balancing mystery against confusion is problematic with this one.

  4. According to my OED, “rusticize” is a real word, a transitive verb. It has three definitions, the third of which is “to make rustic in appearance.” So you weren’t really creating a new word at all — you were just using one that the computer dictionary didn’t recognize.

    On the other hand, my OED doesn’t have anything like “rrsticize.”

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