Words of the Day: Neoplastic and Pleonastic

Wednesday, November 28th, 2007

neoplastic (adj.): of, pertaining to, or having the characteristics of tumors or other useless newly grown tissue
pleonastic (adj.): of, pertaining to, or having the characteristics of superfluous iteration or repetition in speech or writing

I don’t have much to say about this pair of words, actually, other than this: Never in my many years speaking English have I seen two four-syllable words with wholly different meanings wherein two consonant clusters can be interchanged. I think it’s truly remarkable that these two long, contrived words both exist. We’re not talking about a pairing like “vase” and “save,” where the limited number of phonologically acceptable letter combinations in a single-syllable, four-letter word means that some reciprocity is statistically (more or less) inevitable. There are, I’m sure, dozens of examples of that type (rite/tire and late/tale come to mind). But in what other instance does a ten-letter word demonstrate this kind of pairing? It’s so rare as to seem almost an error, a Spoonerism or malaprop of some kind. If you can think of any other examples that fit into this mold, please, gentle reader, let me know.

One Response to “Words of the Day: Neoplastic and Pleonastic”

  1. this is the most random comment you’ll get (or rather, random person from a former life leaving a comment). chalk it up to fucked up sleeping schedule from working too much….

    anyway, neoplastic and pleonastic might not be all that different after all. The pathophysiology of tumors are “cells gone wild” …one genetically messed up cell that replicates and replicates uncontrollably. Repetitive, if you will.

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