One often hears the suffix, "thon" in advertising. Did this come from "marathon?" Is there another possible origin? Often its application makes no sense. Any ideas?
Perhaps Goofy will weigh in? Is the suffix maybe "athon," and not "thon?" The information I found said "thon" is a Scot word for "yon," but then talked about "athon" being a suffix for something that is an event or a contest.
Thanks, Kalleh. "athon" does make more sense if derived from "marathon." It seems overused to me whatever the origin. Since "marathon" meant "fennel" in ancient Greek, some huckster claiming to have a "saleathon" must be selling fennel!
Around here some folks hold "mini-marathons." Since a marathon is a very specific distance, how is a mini-marathon possible? Am I too literal, or are they showing their ignirance, or is it both? Is a "sellathon" an offering of goods that stretches for 26.2 miles? Do "telethons" sell things 26.2 miles distant?
This process of reanalysis of words yielding a new suffix is interesting: e.g., -gate from Watergate (for new scandals), -rama from diorama or panorama (in Greek horama meant 'view'), -burger from Hamburger (a German adjective meaning 'from or of Hamburg'), &c.
I had emailed z about our discussions about the pronunciation of Florida (2 or 3 syllables), and he said he'd stop by. Here is what he said, "I am guessing the 2nd syllable in a trisyllabic pronunciation of Florida might be an unvoiced /ə/(aka schwa, borrowed from Hebrew) in somebody's casual speech."
Originally posted by Kalleh: I had emailed z about our discussions about the pronunciation of Florida (2 or 3 syllables), and he said he'd stop by. Here is what he said, "I am guessing the 2nd syllable in a trisyllabic pronunciation of Florida might be an unvoiced /ə/(aka schwa, borrowed from Hebrew) in somebody's casual speech."
Not in the UK. I have only ever heard the word pronounced with a distinct /i/, albeit unstressed.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
