rec.puzzles Archive

What happened to words like "tant" (nearby, the opposite of distant) and "cuss" (not talk about, the...

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New entry, edited from material collected for the archive and not yet in a released version.

Problem

What happened to words like "tant" (nearby, the opposite of distant) and
"cuss" (not talk about, the opposite of discuss)?

I have often wondered what happened to the following words:

WORD         MEANING
tant         nearby            (opposite to distant)
cuss         not talk about    (opposite to discuss etc....)
play         hide (different to: play - having fun)
tress        relax
pute         agree with

-- Bradley Long <zzblong@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au>

[ Editor: the first line is the editor's summary of Long's question. ]
Show solution
$ (grep '^dis' /usr/dict/words) > human_thought

astrous           - serendipitous
burse, seminate,  - collect
  sipate
cern, cover       - overlook
cipline           - unruliness
creet             - publicized
crepant, parate   - in agreement
crete, tinct      - the same
criminate         - treat equally
cuss              - remain silent about
dain              - high regard
gruntled, traught - optimistic
gusting           - tasteful
heveled           - neat in appearance
mal               - cheery
missal            - request to return to work
parage            - encourage
posable           - invaluable
pute              - agree with
rupt              - assist
semble            - be honest
sension           - agreement
sident            - loyalist
tant              - nearby
tillate           - mixture
tort              - depict accurately
turbance          - peace

-- Ford Prefect <ford@ee.tulane.edu>