Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

aidan

Member Since

November 8, 2006

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

5

Bio

Latest Comments

injecting swear words

  • November 8, 2006, 3:06am

It's called 'tmesis' - one of only a few words in the English language starting 'tm', and although I know very little of ancient Greek I seem to recall that the 'tm' section of the word is from a word meaning cut - hence an atom was originally something believed indivisible. It describes exactly the act you have suggested, splitting a word into two parts and placing another word in the gap.