8 June 2007 - unutterable

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All-Powerful Inability

“Speak” and “utter” are synonyms. “Unspeakable” and “unutterable” are both synonyms and antonyms. I conclude that “unable” must be an outfix, or exfix, which prevents unmentionables from being unquestionable and unthinkables from being unpronounceable, let alone unrepeatable.

clue:

I like “unmentionable” because it is self-contradictory, but I never traced the root cause before.

take oh take this clue away

the Daily Whale || copyright 2007, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott <jay@satirist.org>