441
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] reddwarf@feddit.nl 4 points 3 weeks ago

Question: I thought to 'transpire' could mean 'shedding moisture' and/or 'things that happened or are revealed'

English is not my first language though so there's that

[-] lemonmelon@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Serious mode for a moment: transpire typically means "to happen" or "to occur". The "to shed moisture or vapor" definition is now usually limited to discussions about plants (moisture) or the soul when speaking of death in a figurative manner.

Perspire means "to shed matter" but is most commonly used in reference to sweating. The reason that the term referring to "matter" as opposed to the one referring to moisture is preferred is likely due to the salt content in sweat.

Both words share the Latin base for "to breathe", spirare, which is also where we get expire, aspire, conspire, and even spirit.

Back to the joke: you were correct with the way you used transpire in your reply. I "miscorrected" it to make a pun that tied it back to sweat.

[-] Revan343@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 weeks ago

Both words share the Latin base for "to breathe", spirare, which is also where we get expire, aspire, conspire, and even spirit

And, presumably, 'respire'/'respiration'?

[-] lemonmelon@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

Yup! Spirare is the Latin root of a lot of words, most likely due to how pneuma was believed to be the human soul. Breath and soul were one and the same, so it shows up in a lot of places.

[-] reddwarf@feddit.nl 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks for the extensive, informative and complete reply! Very helpful in trying to understand the nuances of the English language.

[-] sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world 3 points 3 weeks ago

I've never heard of transpire being used for the first definition. Perspiration is the act of sweating, and it comes from Latin I think? High school was so long ago.

[-] reddwarf@feddit.nl 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thanks! I think @lemonmelon explained it well. Seems I was skirting the definition by a whisker and got away with it but still failed as a joke or pun should be understandable without having to pull out a Latin dictionary 😀

this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
441 points (99.1% liked)

politics

19135 readers
1226 users here now

Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!

Rules:

  1. Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.

Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.

Example:

  1. Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
  2. Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
  3. No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
  4. Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
  5. No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.

That's all the rules!

Civic Links

Register To Vote

Citizenship Resource Center

Congressional Awards Program

Federal Government Agencies

Library of Congress Legislative Resources

The White House

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Senate

Partnered Communities:

News

World News

Business News

Political Discussion

Ask Politics

Military News

Global Politics

Moderate Politics

Progressive Politics

UK Politics

Canadian Politics

Australian Politics

New Zealand Politics

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS