>We checked my
>dictionary (which is VERY old) and sure enough my friends were
>right. I just
>said if Joni says reoccur, then I can too! :~)
>
i think reoccur is not in most old dictionaries because they haven't caught
up with usage. it is in most thesauruses (thesaures?). if you do a web
search you'll find it is in common use. it means something slightly
different from recur, but joni used it wrong.
the reoccur thread happened between 11/20/97 and 12/10/97 and was...
heated. on the jonilist!?! i just had a laugh reading through some posts i
saved. here's some good stuff
-----
rob jordan - 11/20
Patrick wrote:
> i'm also puzzling this out but it feels like a different meaning than
> recur. things that recur, happen again and again. reoccur seems to
> mean happen, then not happen, then happen. I think i can give a good
> example. If you'd had cancer surgery and went into remission, you
> wouldn't worry that the cancer would recur, but you'd worry that it
> might reoccur. does this make sense, cause it sure feels right to
> me?
I started this thread in a grumpy mood <g>, but now I'm starting to think
more deeply and enjoy it! Actually I more or less agree with you. If you
had car trouble which went away and then one morning the car wouldn't start
again, you could say it re-occured. But 'recurring nightmare' is used so
commonly in british english it's almost a cliche. For some people it's
being naked in company, or standing up to give a speech and having no
notes. By the same token, I would think a recurring dream would be one you
have over and over and over again.
Etymologically they both come from the latin 'currere', to run, but
're-currere' to run again, had already been glued together in middle
english. Occur is 'ob-currere', ob- meaning 'in the way'. So, I suppose
re-occur is strictly, to run in the way again. If you think etymology is a
good guide to usage, which I don't!
Rob
-------
jerry notaro - 12/8
2 cents from a former old maid English teacher:
recur - referring to somethings that happens on more than one occassion,
no matter when or how many times.
re-occur - it happened once, and has now happened once more.
Jerry
------
and me, patrick leader, 12/8
>****, several have made the case very well that there are two different
meanings here. When I was in California my sister and I looked on her
Microsoft Bookshelf CD. Reoccur was not in the Dictionary Module, but it
was in the Thesaurus Module. And there was a synonomous phrase that
EXACTLY expresses reoccur, and definitely not recur. The phrase was "show
up like a bad penny". My example of going into remission and hoping that
the cancer doesn't reoccur; Rob's similiar example regarding car trouble;
these are clear examples that demonstrate why people have been using the
word and I think you're showing a certain amount of tone deafness
pretending there's no difference. The latinate roots of the words are
different, re - currere vs. re - ob - currere; and the second one again
expresses exactly what I'm saying: reoccur means to happen again after some
interval or interruption.
<snip>
I prefer my language unembalmed.
Patrick
