1. Boger

    Boger Senior Member

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    "excisely", am i making up words?

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Boger, Jul 27, 2015.

    [solved]

    Perhaps I am not erring by example, but just don't possess the correct grammar to equip it. I'm not really sure if I should avoid a word when I think it exists.

    Maybe I'm mistaking it with "precisely", but I'm convinced that it means something like "precisely with special caution"... Like "excisely" is the higher comparative of "precisely".

    For example: History teaches excisely that monetary debt results in loss of a nation's economical prowess, yet it's a cyclical process which is happening again.

    Like I said, please instruct me to face-palm if I haven't really picked this vocabulary up elsewhere, but to me it's like that word always has been there like any other, so it's some kind of surprise to meet with these suggested spelling corrections in my typewriter.

    I can't be the only one here because Google has a lot of results, reluctantly I imagine.

    I'm going to have to find the word to replace though, any help and suggestions? Is "to stress" a proper alternative? I'm confused.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2015
  2. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Excisely is absotively not a word.

    Exactly + precisely?

    What are you trying to say - can you write it in a different way?
     
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  3. Boger

    Boger Senior Member

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    Exactly precise.

    That's probably the mistake, I somehow mixed up those words. But I'm sure I did pick it up somewhere. And I pick up English from whoever has it as a first language. Surely I'm not the first one to make this mistake, but it's a mistake nonetheless.

    I can't write it in a different way, but it's enough to know it shouldn't be used.
     
  4. OurJud

    OurJud Contributor Contributor

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    The word 'Excise' is defined as: A tax levied on certain goods and commodities produced or sold within a country and on licences granted for certain activities.

    Can't think what you might be confusing it with. 'Decisively', maybe?
     
  5. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    You can search urban dictionary for words that don't appear in the dictionary; it often turns up word constructions that are used in day to day communication but not yet part of our lexicon.

    https://www.google.com.au/?gws_rd=ssl#q=urban+dictionary+excisely

    adv. when something is so exact and precise that the two words alone do not do it justice.

    Another example is, "fugly". I leave it as an exercise for you to practice :D
     
  6. Boger

    Boger Senior Member

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    Explicitly
     
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2016
  7. cutecat22

    cutecat22 The Strange One Contributor

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    That's a totally different word.

    Exquisite = delicate, beautifully dainty. Easily breakable, posh.
    Exquisitely = to do something delicately, beautifully, daintily.

    With legs longer than any legs I've ever seen, she walked exquisitely down the street ...
     
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  8. Sifunkle

    Sifunkle Dis Member

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    I realise you've resolved your issue, but thanks for the entertainment fuel :)

    I imagined "excisely" as an adverb made from the simple form of the verb "excise" (to remove something by cutting it out).

    The surgeon excisely treated my tumour.

    I like where this is headed.

    Bob saunterly left the building.
    I pinely miss my husband.
    I have readly enjoyed this thread and hat-doffly congratulate a true linguistic pioneer.
     
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  9. GingerCoffee

    GingerCoffee Web Surfer Girl Contributor

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    Isn't that redundant?
     
  10. A.J. Pruitt

    A.J. Pruitt Member

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    Boger.....You should be careful when using obscure words or words that are not found in an American dictionary if you are writing for an American targeted audience. Many readers will sit and read with a dictionary beside them to look up any word they do not understand. If you get into the habit of making up words, you can lose a reader's interest in your story.

    I love to read the classic English style of writing and tend to have an Oxford English dictionary beside me. Many of the words I find in the Oxford dictionary are not found in the American dictionaries. I have found that Webster's dictionaries are the worst for not finding British English words.
     
  11. theoriginalmonsterman

    theoriginalmonsterman Pickle Contributor

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    Don't be a "Dr. Seuss" if you're writing a novel, because if you're making up words left and right people are going to get confused with what you're trying to say.

    Also Urban Dictionary doesn't count as an actual Dictionary... although I fear the day when it becomes one :S
     
  12. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Agreed.

    It's a good source of information and example usage of popular fictional words, slang and sayings, however.
     
  13. Gloria Sythe

    Gloria Sythe Member

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    I have read a couple of self published books that have words in them that I could not find in any dictionary. I love to learn new words and when I see one that I don't know out comes my trusty dictionary. I have three on the go in fact. One Collins, an Oxford and a Websters. If I cannot find the word that I came across I begin to wonder if the author is making up his/her own words. In conclusion; don't make up your own words in published material. Your name is on the cover as the author and your game could cost you an additional book sale.
     
  14. Sifunkle

    Sifunkle Dis Member

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    Avoid made up words, lest your frumious reader come galumphing up, vorpal blade in hand, to claim your manxome head. Perhaps to then chortle at your frabjous demise.

    (Jabberwocky allusion, just in case anyone's unfamiliar with my ravings.)

    My point (if I actually have one) is that some made-up words enter the lexicon (e.g. galumph, chortle). Probably the exception rather than the rule. I concur that they're best avoided in writing for a general/adult audience. Which I think is exactly what you were trying to do in creating this thread...
     
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  15. Aaron DC

    Aaron DC Contributor Contributor

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    Brillig post, @Sifunkle.
     
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  16. matwoolf

    matwoolf Banned Contributor

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    Couldn't he excise his eyes? That would be nice, given safeguards.
     

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