Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Two-dollar words

Sull'interessantissimo e gia` citato 
http://www.zompist.com/spell.html
leggo
| We can also do better if we replace ch with k in words of Greek and
| Hebrew origin-- that is, in two-dollar words like archaism or
| trochaic or Malachi. 
La domanda e`: "Two-dollar" per indicare qualcosa di prezioso e` un modo
di dire comune?
Sull'Hazon trovo invece "two-bit", "twopenny" e "twopence" vogliono
dire il contrario, da due soldi, senza valore, ma e` chiaro che qui non
parliamo di dollari ma di spiccioli! E "twopenny-halfpenny", anche
questo vuol dire "insignificante, senza valore", letteralmente "(del
valore di) due penny e mezzo". Peraltro, questi termini hanno pronunce
imprevedibili: tVp@ns, tVpni, tVpni'heipni ! 

 di dire comune?
Hm. The problem is inflation. In my day, an impressive or erudite word was
a 50-cent-word; now it's gone up to $2.
-- 
If you feel the need to e-mail me, un-not my address first.

 a 50-cent-word; now it's gone up to $2.
And you are lucky because you have one-dollar notes, so that one
dollar still keeps an appearance of being worth something. Here, on
the contrary, we have one-euro and two-euro coins. A two-euro word
wouldn't sound impressive at all (and two Euros is more than two
dollars, you know!)

Enrico C ha scritto:

I do know that!
Although we do have dollar coins, no one likes them, for some reason. The
first issue, the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin, was silver in color and very
close to the twenty-five-cent coin in size, so people avoided them because
they were afraid of spending a dollar as a quarter.
The newer issue, the Sacagawea, (named after an Indian heroine) is slightly
larger and gold in color, but people still avoid them. Merchants in
particular.
At one time we had two-dollar bills, but I think they've stopped making
them. I haven't seen one in years.


 di dire comune?
No, non per indicare qualcosa di prezioso in generale, ma per indicare una 
parola lunga o difficile. Spesso l'uso non è necessario ma per fare una 
bella figura. 



Una parola rara come una banconota da due dollari?

 Una parola rara come una banconota da due dollari?
Ipotizzo che l'espressione venga dall'ambiente del giornalismo, ammesso che
si sia mai pagato a numero di lettere.
Ciao, FB
-- 
Nasalization is just a part of life.
(Joey DoWop Dee on it.cultura.linguistica.inglese)

Enrico C ha scritto:

It all depends on who you hang [out] with. (Or, for FB: with whom you hang
[out].)
In my circle of friends, two-dollar words are heard fairly frequently. :)


 wrote in message
news:1a8q36kqakhnr.1...@40tude.net...

In Canada, when the one- and two-dollar coins were introduced in the
late 1980s, eventually replacing the paper notes of those
denominations, they were the subject of universal dislike. They were
forced upon the people, who were not polled beforehand to find out how
they would react to the coins, and they were too bulky.
Because the one-dollar note has a picture of a loon on it, it became
known as the "loony" or "loonie", a word which also expressed the
dislike Canadians felt towards the coins - "a loony idea".  When the
two-dollar coin was introduced some time later, there was a logical
nickname for the coin  which followed the "loonie" - the "twonie", or
"toonie". The combination of these two words has often been cited as a
phrase which captures the universal dislike Canadians feel toward the
replacement of their paper money with coins - "Looney toons".
The two-dollar bill is not common in the US, because banks do not
distribute it as they do the other denominations, but it is available
for the asking at most banks. Merchants don't like it because there is
no place in the cash register for it. However, for some reason, it is
used on all American military bases overseas, and when military
personnel receive their pay, they will often receive two-dollar bills.
I often go to a convenience store where the owner has a liking for
two-dollar bills and John F. Kennedy half-dollar coins. I often get
both in change when I pay for my purchases. It is the only place I
have seen two-dollar bills in the past seven or eight years. Some
people think two-dollar bills are rare, so they hold on to them when
they get one, keeping many bills out of circulation.
Joe from Massachusetts

 wrote in message
news:MyE8d.21025$3n.8638@okepread06...
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sorry, the one-dollar coin, not note


 replacement of their paper money with coins - "Looney toons".
LOL!
Sebastiano
-- 
George : Well, I want my life back!
Betty : It's not like you were doing anything with it.