I don't even know why but reading all those -y suffixed words is making me giggle!

Shep | August 07, 16:10 CET

Don't you mean giggle-y, Shep(-y?)? I have that Friday-y feeling-y!

twinkle | August 07, 16:23 CET

I. Want. To. Marry. This. Man. Word geek and sci-fi TV geek?!
Great article!!!!!!

lady84bug | August 07, 16:28 CET

"Gimme-a-break-y" was always my favorite.

Jobo | August 07, 17:33 CET

That's the mosty awesomey-ishiest thing I've read today.

AlanD | August 07, 17:56 CET

Reading all of those made my head hurt (but in a good, awesome, way). I add -y to words all the time when talking, but can't imagine writing them.

theclynn | August 07, 18:15 CET

You know who else made up words for his stories?

Shakespear.

That's right, I went there.

zz9 | August 07, 18:20 CET

Oh no you ditnt !

(lots of authors coin words, it's particularly popular in science-fiction where it's not unheard of to coin entire slang vocabularies)

I add -y to words all the time when talking, but can't imagine writing them.

I'm the opposite - I do it in text all the time but almost never in speech (I verb nouns a lot in speech but I did that before Buffy anyway).

Fun article though I think the 'y-y' ending words (birthday-y etc.) are a step too far personally - they don't roll off the tongue, they don't have a ring to them when you hear them and they don't scan properly when you read them. They contravene the one rule slang arguably has in other words - they're not easier to use than more formal English.


ETR typo

[ edited by Saje on 2009-08-07 18:29 ]

Saje | August 07, 18:28 CET

Ha ha! Saje went all typo-y!

zz9 | August 07, 18:43 CET

Don't get all Saje-y on him... :)

zeitgeist | August 07, 18:51 CET

The Heart has narrow-y Banks
It measures like the Sea
In might-y — unremitting-y bass
And Blue-y Monotony

--excerpted from Emil-y Dickinson

Works for me. It's supernacular-y.

Love the -y-y article - and I use -y in both speech and writing, but generally only with people that are Buffy-y. Buffyesque. Buffyish.

QuoterGal | August 07, 19:25 CET

Hilariously erudite without any nose-elevate-y stuffitude, and full of awsome-y Jossian wordplay and wittiness. Loves it!

(Also love that the writer used one of my favorite Cordelia Chase quote(s), and anticipated the mental correction that would be made by Angel fans when reading it. True fan :)

[ edited by Wiseblood on 2009-08-07 19:55 ]

Wiseblood | August 07, 19:54 CET

Ha ha! Saje went all typo-y!

zz9 | August 07, 18:43 CET

Don't get all Saje-y on him... :)

zeitgeist | August 07, 18:51 CET


Wiseasses-y ! ;)

(I liked QuoterGal's post though, very poetry-y)

Saje | August 07, 21:54 CET

That's right, I went there.

Thank you for going where few dare to.

Effulgent | August 08, 01:50 CET

Oh goodness, I need to catch my breath.....Yeah, hate when our sweet Saje goes all nuts....Wait, no I don't!!

Madhatter | August 08, 07:02 CET

That was a fun read. Who among us hasn't had their vocabulary go all Joss-y, from time to time? ;)

Shey | August 08, 13:18 CET

Some of those just strike me as kinda painful. Most of the cases in Buffy were where real words fail to convey whatever they wished to express. Heart-of-Darknessy makes sense whereas mystery-y-ish-y seems like it'd be way easier to just say "mysterious."

Likewise with "emo-y-ish-y" which I wish there were actual citation for. While it took me ages to accept emo as a word ("that's not a word sweetie.") and not just a DC music genre I have no interest in, it seems like some of these examples are more like mistranscribed adverbs (emoishly?).

orangewaxlion | August 09, 07:10 CET