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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?
 
Posts: 6168 | Location: Muncie, IndianaReply With QuoteReport This Post
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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.
 
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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!
 
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quote:
Originally posted by Geoff:
Since "marathon" meant "fennel" in ancient Greek,


It's a place name!
 
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Nice to see you, Goofy. So - is the suffix "athon" or "thon?"
 
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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?
 
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Mini, meaning less than 26 miles? Is it 26.2?
 
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Interesting. All because of the royal family.
 
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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.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
 
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Good seeing you here again, Z! Thanks for the input!
 
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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."
 
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quote:
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.
 
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I thought so, considering our "fire" discussion.
 
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