Author Topic: Osier, orate  (Read 3050 times)

Alan W

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Re: Osier, orate
« Reply #15 on: June 05, 2018, 12:39:43 PM »
Anona queried inaner being common. Recently I re-classified urbaner and urbanest as rare, based on their extremely infrequent appearance in text samples. The same consideration applies to inaner and inanest.

They are used occasionally, as in this passage from 2004 when Washington Post columnist Tom Shales was describing the television coverage of Ronald Reagan's funeral:

Quote
There were also the usual giddy weather reports and inane remarks, none inaner than that of a Fox 5 reporter stationed at the Capitol and anticipating a big crowd: "If you've ever been to Disney World," he told viewers, "you've probably got an idea of what they've got going here."

However, they're definitely not common, so I'm changing them for future puzzles.
Alan Walker
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anona

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Re: Osier, orate
« Reply #16 on: June 05, 2018, 04:25:02 PM »
Thank you, Alan. And what a (groan) quote you found!

birdy

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Re: Osier, orate
« Reply #17 on: June 15, 2018, 12:23:00 AM »
I don't think there's any doubt that osier is not really a common word ... except in Chi ... up until now.

Funny what different words we all consider common/rare.  "Rort" is definitely an unknown to me, while "osier" though not a word I'd use every day, or maybe even every year, is one that I do know, even though I have never woven a basket.