It’s the same thing with “unsweet,” which has apparently become the universal term at food establishments when you want unsweetened tea. I’m in the American South, so I encounter this constantly.
But what the hell is “unsweet”? What does that even mean? Did they sweeten it and then somehow take the sweetness back out? Was it accomplished through evaporation? Reverse osmosis? Some sort of industrial-scale anti-sugar process?
“Unsweet” isn’t a word.
So when I order, I specifically say, “unsweetened tea,” and the server inevitably responds, “Unsweet?”
The amount of smug confidence emanating from your comments is honestly stifling, especially considering how incredibly wrong you are. But let me go ahead and respond to you now in a much more meaningful way.
“Unsweet” is not a clipping of “unsweetened.” “Unsweet” is an adjective meaning that sweetness has been removed from something. “Unsweetened” means that sweetness was never added in the first place. They are two different words with two different meanings. When a server uses “unsweet” to mean “unsweetened,” they are using the word incorrectly and in the wrong sense.
“TV” is an initialism, which is a type of abbreviation. How you arrived at the conclusion that “TV” is simply a shortening of the word “television,” I have no idea. It is quite obvious, however, that you are not fully aware of how the English language actually functions. The fact that you are able to articulate yourself in English at all is frankly amazing, especially considering the sheer amount of smugness following you around.
Adjectives can be shortened. Like in the case of “unsweet”, for example!
Do you also think they have to remove lead from gasoline to make unleaded gas? (Sorry for using the word “gas”; we know how you feel about shortened words.) “Un” is a prefix that can just mean “not” sometimes, as in “unintelligent” ;)
It’s 7:30 a.m. I literally just woke up because my wife needs to make sure the teenager gets up to catch the bus to school. And as I lay here trying to accept the world as it is, with the current economic and political climate, as I do every morning, I find myself needing to explain to people that “unsweetened” and “unleaded” serve essentially the same mechanical linguistic function: they describe something to which the relevant substance was not added. Sweetener was not added to the beverage. Lead was not added to the gasoline.
As the kids mill out of the house complaining about school and the general condition of their overtaxed lives, I wonder whether you have ever used the word “unlead.”
No. I would venture not.
In fact, I would bet good money that you have never used that word, nor would you consider it a shortening or clipping of “unleaded.”
Looks like the teenager has finally departed. The irony that she is going to a public school where she will be taught the nuance of the English language in an academic capacity does not escape me, particularly since I apparently have to deconstruct an insult aimed at me just to demonstrate how stupid it is.
The word “unintelligent” possesses the same basic construction as “unleaded” and “unsweetened.” The prefix “un-” can indicate the absence or negation of something. “Unintelligent” means not intelligent. “Unsweetened” means not sweetened. “Unleaded” means not leaded.
And yet, apparently, somewhere along the way, I have been placed in the position of explaining basic English morphology to someone who thought they had discovered some devastating linguistic observation.
I now sit on the toilet taking my morning constitutional and wondering why I want to insult you in the meanest way possible. Someone has already told me that I am being arrogant and mean, and, honestly, I cannot think of a compelling reason to disagree with them.
So I can only surmise that what I did went over your head.
Maybe you’re some kind of idiot. I honestly don’t know. What I can say is that I encounter this consistently on this platform, and I don’t know how to counteract it. Yet every time, I find myself compelled to continue responding like a raging bull attracted to the waving motion of a red blanket.
I am making fun of you, sir. I was insulting your intelligence while simultaneously demonstrating that you were wrong about what you were saying concerning your examples of “unintelligent” and “unleaded gasoline.”
I will, however, reiterate my point once again: “unsweet” is not a shortening of “unsweetened.” I don’t know how else to get this across to you. Look it up on Google. Ask an LLM. I don’t know. Talk to an English professor.
At this point, I am genuinely unsure what more I can do for you.
It’s the same thing with “unsweet,” which has apparently become the universal term at food establishments when you want unsweetened tea. I’m in the American South, so I encounter this constantly.
But what the hell is “unsweet”? What does that even mean? Did they sweeten it and then somehow take the sweetness back out? Was it accomplished through evaporation? Reverse osmosis? Some sort of industrial-scale anti-sugar process?
“Unsweet” isn’t a word.
So when I order, I specifically say, “unsweetened tea,” and the server inevitably responds, “Unsweet?”
“Gotcha.”
No. You got nothing. I said unsweetened.
Words are often shortened. It reduces the number of vowels and makes communication quicker and easier. Do you also have an issue with these?:
math
gym
bike
fridge
TV
ad
lab
info
photo
Photo is a word on its own tho so that also creates confusion if you shortened photography to photo. “Oh, I do photo for a living”.
I’m not even sure how to respond to this nonsense. Unsweet isn’t a shortening of unsweetened.
Also, TV is an abbreviation.
Unsweet is a shortening of unsweetened.
TV is a shortening of television. (abbreviations are a type of shortening)
You’re right, though. You didn’t know how to respond.
The amount of smug confidence emanating from your comments is honestly stifling, especially considering how incredibly wrong you are. But let me go ahead and respond to you now in a much more meaningful way.
“Unsweet” is not a clipping of “unsweetened.” “Unsweet” is an adjective meaning that sweetness has been removed from something. “Unsweetened” means that sweetness was never added in the first place. They are two different words with two different meanings. When a server uses “unsweet” to mean “unsweetened,” they are using the word incorrectly and in the wrong sense.
“TV” is an initialism, which is a type of abbreviation. How you arrived at the conclusion that “TV” is simply a shortening of the word “television,” I have no idea. It is quite obvious, however, that you are not fully aware of how the English language actually functions. The fact that you are able to articulate yourself in English at all is frankly amazing, especially considering the sheer amount of smugness following you around.
You sound like a lovely person to have a discussion with
I corrected him nicely one time. Then dude caught an attitude. So the bitch slap followed.
Don’t know why you have a problem with this.
Because you come across as rude and high and mighty :)
You may be unaware of how others might percieve you and it is often helpful to have that pointed out in case you want to contemplate
And the guy I’m responding to has a cloud of smug surrounding him the size of Seattle.
I responded in kind. I’m also correct in what I was saying. I have zero obligation to be nice to him since he could not be nice to me.
I think it would have been more insulting to try and coddle his dunning Kruger then to simply let him have it.
Adjectives can be shortened. Like in the case of “unsweet”, for example!
Do you also think they have to remove lead from gasoline to make unleaded gas? (Sorry for using the word “gas”; we know how you feel about shortened words.) “Un” is a prefix that can just mean “not” sometimes, as in “unintelligent” ;)
It’s 7:30 a.m. I literally just woke up because my wife needs to make sure the teenager gets up to catch the bus to school. And as I lay here trying to accept the world as it is, with the current economic and political climate, as I do every morning, I find myself needing to explain to people that “unsweetened” and “unleaded” serve essentially the same mechanical linguistic function: they describe something to which the relevant substance was not added. Sweetener was not added to the beverage. Lead was not added to the gasoline.
As the kids mill out of the house complaining about school and the general condition of their overtaxed lives, I wonder whether you have ever used the word “unlead.”
No. I would venture not.
In fact, I would bet good money that you have never used that word, nor would you consider it a shortening or clipping of “unleaded.”
Looks like the teenager has finally departed. The irony that she is going to a public school where she will be taught the nuance of the English language in an academic capacity does not escape me, particularly since I apparently have to deconstruct an insult aimed at me just to demonstrate how stupid it is.
The word “unintelligent” possesses the same basic construction as “unleaded” and “unsweetened.” The prefix “un-” can indicate the absence or negation of something. “Unintelligent” means not intelligent. “Unsweetened” means not sweetened. “Unleaded” means not leaded.
And yet, apparently, somewhere along the way, I have been placed in the position of explaining basic English morphology to someone who thought they had discovered some devastating linguistic observation.
I now sit on the toilet taking my morning constitutional and wondering why I want to insult you in the meanest way possible. Someone has already told me that I am being arrogant and mean, and, honestly, I cannot think of a compelling reason to disagree with them.
But I am going to do it anyway.
This has to be a bit you’re doing. If not, I really feel sorry for that family.
So I can only surmise that what I did went over your head.
Maybe you’re some kind of idiot. I honestly don’t know. What I can say is that I encounter this consistently on this platform, and I don’t know how to counteract it. Yet every time, I find myself compelled to continue responding like a raging bull attracted to the waving motion of a red blanket.
I am making fun of you, sir. I was insulting your intelligence while simultaneously demonstrating that you were wrong about what you were saying concerning your examples of “unintelligent” and “unleaded gasoline.”
I will, however, reiterate my point once again: “unsweet” is not a shortening of “unsweetened.” I don’t know how else to get this across to you. Look it up on Google. Ask an LLM. I don’t know. Talk to an English professor.
At this point, I am genuinely unsure what more I can do for you.