Most who speak or write English either as a first language or fairly fluently have perhaps noted that putting "dis" in front of another word reverses the meaning. Such as "like" means to feel some degree of affection or affinity for, while "dislike" means the opposite. Lawyers who obtain a license to practice are "admitted to the bar," while lawyers who are dismissed from practice are "disbarred." There was a mass shooting today (Thursday) in Tennessee. It appears the shooter was an employee of the store (a Kroger's supermarket). The news story I read didn't use the word but other stories about similar shootings in which the shooter was an unhappy or recently fired employee used the term "disgruntled." So I put the question to you: Has anyone ever heard of a gruntled employee?
Do you have to charge a weapon before you can discharge it? And is it possible to just be 'combobulated'?
I think for early gunpowder weapons, you actually did charge them with powder before muzzle loading the projectile. Isn’t it actually refereed to as a charge? So yes, yes you do. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/charge Definition 2B1
Merriam-Webster Dictionary lists gruntled as a word meaning exactly what you'd expect it to mean. I taught ELS for several years back in the late 80s. When ever students asked about the vagaries of English, I just shrugged and said "It's English." "The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll.
Dragging the thread back on to topic (this here be word mechanics folks, not the debate room), most of the dis words have ends that meant something once if it still doesnt e.g Disgusting is from the same route as gusto... both coming from taste in latin... Gruntled is an odd one though because in the 1600s it meant to make grunts of annoyance... e.g pretty much the same as disgruntled... the use of gruntled as an antonym to disgruntled originated with PG Wodehouse as a back construction from disgruntled
77 years old, and I never knew that. Thanks for demolishing the point of my thread. And thanks to the moose for somewhat rescuing the point of my thread.
Even in a modrn firearm the propellant is sometimes called the charge and batteries are charged and discharged, as are capacitors also in legal speak you can discharge duties, which you are charged to perform, It doesnt really fit in the gruntled area
Just as a prisoner must be charged (with a crime) before they can sometime later be discharged from prison (released). Lol I know, it's not quite the same. Being charged with a crime is totally different from being charged into a prison cell, but it does lead directly to it and is in fact a prerequisite. But that's just a fun little word game. Basically it seems like to charge something is to put something into it, usually energy of some sort, and then to discharge it is to release the energy (or whatever was put it). I think it does actually, since to discharge something is the opposite of charging it. Like a responsibility—someone can be charged with one and then they must discharge it at some point. Of course it's a more specific use of the term than just a prefix meaning anti or not. But it still is the opposite of charging something. You put the charge in, and then at some point it comes out.
Dismissed is another one... the antonym isn't missed in that case its from the latin 'demittere'... to send away
You're welcome, though that wasn't my intention. I didn't know about gruntled until I looked it up after reading your post. Once a researcher, always a researcher.
