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| mo_flixx |
 Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:13 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: So, mo, did you get my PM?
Thanks! No question that Hitchcock did the much more creative visual thing with the scene. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 7:18 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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bocce wrote: to me the pentultimate screen adaptation was TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD...
i've never heard anyone complain about the film either over or underwhelming the novel. it was almost perfect.
bocce -
Look up "penultimate." There is no "pentultimate." "Penultimate" means next to last (Webster's New World Dictionary). |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:09 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
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Location: SF Bay Area
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mo_flixx wrote: "Penultimate" means next to last (Webster's New World Dictionary).
It's here, and may stick, like inflammable for flammable. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2006 9:43 pm |
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yambu wrote: mo_flixx wrote: "Penultimate" means next to last (Webster's New World Dictionary). Correct. However, a mistaken meaning has been creeping in for some time. The Penultimate Builder's Guide, Poker Dictionary, Exercise Equipment, Penultimate Films & Features Ltd, etc. The thing they have in common is they all claim to be comprehensive, "the last word", or (worse) "the ultimate" in whatever.
It's here, and may stick, like inflammable for flammable.
I wasn't aware of this trend...only "The Dummies' Guide..." trend. Maybe that's more appropriate.
And the correct spelling is "penultimate," not "pentultimate." |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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mo_flixx wrote: bocce wrote: to me the pentultimate screen adaptation was TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD...
i've never heard anyone complain about the film either over or underwhelming the novel. it was almost perfect.
bocce -
Look up "penultimate." There is no "pentultimate." "Penultimate" means next to last (Webster's New World Dictionary).
mo--Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is one of the most common mistakes on this forum and it never fails to drive me crazy. "Penultimate" does not does not does not mean "quintessential." It means, pure and simple:
NEXT TO LAST!!! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:28 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| I have no interest in what some dummy thinks is the "new meaning" of "penultimate." It means "next to last." That's all it means. Any other meaning is WRONG. W. R.O.N.G. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:55 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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"Penultimate" means next to last. "Pentultimate" means fifth from last.
And that's my final word on the subject. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 12:57 am |
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tirebiter wrote: "Penultimate" means next to last. "Pentultimate" means fifth from last.
And that's my final word on the subject.
That's funny. Very funny. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:11 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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I think I know, btw, why people persist in misusing the word "penultimate." The word sounds important, as if it should mean something cosmic or profound. Therefore people got to thinking it must mean "the ultimate in ultimates" or "the highest ultimate possible." When they find out it means something as mundane as "next to last" they reject that meaning. That long, important-sounding word just can't mean something so commonplace. But I'm afraid what it means is simply, only, merely "next to last."
This may be my ultimate post on the subject. Depending on the feedback, however, it may be my penultimate post. And if the feedback gets strong enough, it may be my pentultimate (love that new coinage). See ya later. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| And yeah, yeah, yeah, I know this should all be in The Lobby. |
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| dlhavard |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:26 am |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 1352
Location: Detroit (where the slow are run over)
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To get back to the African Queen - did anybody see White Hunter (Clint Eastwood). Supposed to be Agee's thinly disguised account of working with Huston.
And - as a personal note - they have one of the old African Queens in Key Largo FL. I actually got to go aboard several years ago. |
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"We have a slight apocalypse." |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:36 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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dlhavard wrote: To get back to the African Queen - did anybody see White Hunter (Clint Eastwood). Supposed to be Agee's thinly disguised account of working with Huston.
And - as a personal note - they have one of the old African Queens in Key Largo FL. I actually got to go aboard several years ago.
I've never seen White Hunter (not the complete title, btw, but I don't know the rest). But somehow I can tell from seeing John Huston in movies that he would not be anyone's idea of a day at the beach to work with. Marvelous director, though--at his best, which was often. The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen are two of the greatest movies ever made. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 8:39 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Ask anyone who's ever seen The African Queen what the most memorable scene in the movie is.
Guess what they all--all--answer.
SPOILER TO GIVE YOU TIME TO GUESS:
(in white)
THE LEECHES!!! |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 9:19 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: I have no interest in what some dummy thinks is the "new meaning" of "penultimate." It means "next to last." That's all it means. Any other meaning is WRONG. W. R.O.N.G.
I have always taken "penultimate" to mean the best writing utensil I will ever find.
But seriously, language evolves, it is not fixed. If a word gets a commonly accepted meaning, then that meaning is accurate.
"orient" originally meant "the place on the horizen where the sun rises when it is near one of the equinoxes"
"ornery" originally meant "ordinary"
"aegis" initially meant something under physical protection
in the 18th century "agony" meant "a strong sudden and often uncontrollable display (as of joy or delight)"
Are the definitions we accept now "wrong"? Of course not. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 10:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Joe--I have long since come to terms with the fact that "hopefully" is forever downgraded. I understand that language evolves. But I can't stand it when people sort of "decide" that their meaning of a word is the right one and then proceed accordingly. People just don't seem to get that "penultimate" means "next to last." They have unilaterally decided that it means "the highest form of ultimate," sort of similar to "pluperfect," which does in fact mean "absolutely perfect."
Another of my pet peeves--perhaps my ultimate pet peeve--is the misuse of "unique." The word means "singular, one-of-a-kind," but people use it as a synonym for "unusual." Nothing can be "more unique" than another thing. Nothing can be "more unique" than something else. Case closed. |
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