Investors are glum, reports Reuters. OK. Fine. But what's glum?
A very nice adjective, from Middle English, meaning depressed, dispirited, pessimistic. Originally, the word meant "to become dark," and indeed that's it! But if you don't want to use the word "glum," there are many more words to use--somber, down in the dumps, gloomy.... All good words, meaning a sad, unhappy state of mind.
Is this the past tense of 'glimmer?' Could be . . . if it was a strong verb. I was delighted when I discovered that 'went' is the past tense of 'wend,' which was a weak verb; now it's the past tense of 'go,' a strong verb since stealing its past tense from'wend.' But what was the past tense of 'go' when it was a weak verb? Mysteries abound. Which is related to 'abundance.' I miss exploring these infinitely interesting ideas with Fran. Who would agree with me that 'going' is prosaic while 'wending' evokes an inquiring and exploratory walk, which she loved taking.
ReplyDeleteWow--you caught me here! Never heard of strong versus weak verbs--so I had to do a little research....
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting how a verb can steal--or be stolen from. I wish Franny were around--she might answer the question! Would a verb thief walk around in striped clothes with a flashlights and a rock stuck in his sock? Would the victim verb go to the police or the courts? Whom might that be?
Thanks, Susan, for prompting all this!