Just a short one today. (Please let us refrain from any "that's what she said!!!!!"'s)
So, you've heard the words dysfunctional and discontinue, right?
Now, as is often the case with the stupidity of the English language, the dys- and dis- have two entirely different meanings, despite being said exactly the same way. I swear our ancestors did it just to confuse us.
Dys- usually means "bad" or "wrong" or "impaired".
Dis- usually means to "stop" or an "absense" or "not".
So now you know, and anytime you hear someone using a dys-/dis- word you will be able to establish which vowel is at the center.
WOW, thats really discriminatory against people with learning difficulties. The "Dys" in Dyslexic implies that theres something wrong or bad with suffering from something thats not your fault.
ReplyDeleteInteresting blog tho, had no idea that "Dys" meant bad. I've only heard the word Dystopia, but I only assumed that it was chosen to be Utopia's counterpart because it sounded more sinister.