What does 'Half-Offeus' mean?
Recently I happened to watch Married With Children Ep 507. In that episode, the dad (Al Bundy) was explaining why he took a header by a granite statue in the wishing pond:
...when I slipped on some wishing-pond slime, and took a header
right into the granite statue of the goddess of the malls: Half-Offeus.
I don't understand what 'half-offeus' means.
Could anybody help me out on this?
meaning
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
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Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
Recently I happened to watch Married With Children Ep 507. In that episode, the dad (Al Bundy) was explaining why he took a header by a granite statue in the wishing pond:
...when I slipped on some wishing-pond slime, and took a header
right into the granite statue of the goddess of the malls: Half-Offeus.
I don't understand what 'half-offeus' means.
Could anybody help me out on this?
meaning
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
4
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
1
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago
add a comment |
Recently I happened to watch Married With Children Ep 507. In that episode, the dad (Al Bundy) was explaining why he took a header by a granite statue in the wishing pond:
...when I slipped on some wishing-pond slime, and took a header
right into the granite statue of the goddess of the malls: Half-Offeus.
I don't understand what 'half-offeus' means.
Could anybody help me out on this?
meaning
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
Recently I happened to watch Married With Children Ep 507. In that episode, the dad (Al Bundy) was explaining why he took a header by a granite statue in the wishing pond:
...when I slipped on some wishing-pond slime, and took a header
right into the granite statue of the goddess of the malls: Half-Offeus.
I don't understand what 'half-offeus' means.
Could anybody help me out on this?
meaning
meaning
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
edited 8 hours ago
Laurel
31.7k660113
31.7k660113
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
asked 8 hours ago
user331966user331966
261
261
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
user331966 is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
4
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
1
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago
add a comment |
4
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
1
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago
4
4
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
1
1
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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oldest
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Half-Offeus is probably a nonce; in other words, a "one-off", and so impossible to find in a dictionary.
It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
This is probably an example of productivity in linguistics, a situation in which native speakers use a certain type of creativity (and some intuitive grammatical process) to express new ideas during word formation.
With the exception of schm reduplication and zero-derivation, there is little room for productivity in English, unless you are writing sitcoms for television, or struggling to express something in everyday speech for which there is no adequate word.
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
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Half-Offeus is probably a nonce; in other words, a "one-off", and so impossible to find in a dictionary.
It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
This is probably an example of productivity in linguistics, a situation in which native speakers use a certain type of creativity (and some intuitive grammatical process) to express new ideas during word formation.
With the exception of schm reduplication and zero-derivation, there is little room for productivity in English, unless you are writing sitcoms for television, or struggling to express something in everyday speech for which there is no adequate word.
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
Half-Offeus is probably a nonce; in other words, a "one-off", and so impossible to find in a dictionary.
It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
This is probably an example of productivity in linguistics, a situation in which native speakers use a certain type of creativity (and some intuitive grammatical process) to express new ideas during word formation.
With the exception of schm reduplication and zero-derivation, there is little room for productivity in English, unless you are writing sitcoms for television, or struggling to express something in everyday speech for which there is no adequate word.
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
Half-Offeus is probably a nonce; in other words, a "one-off", and so impossible to find in a dictionary.
It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
This is probably an example of productivity in linguistics, a situation in which native speakers use a certain type of creativity (and some intuitive grammatical process) to express new ideas during word formation.
With the exception of schm reduplication and zero-derivation, there is little room for productivity in English, unless you are writing sitcoms for television, or struggling to express something in everyday speech for which there is no adequate word.
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
Half-Offeus is probably a nonce; in other words, a "one-off", and so impossible to find in a dictionary.
It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
This is probably an example of productivity in linguistics, a situation in which native speakers use a certain type of creativity (and some intuitive grammatical process) to express new ideas during word formation.
With the exception of schm reduplication and zero-derivation, there is little room for productivity in English, unless you are writing sitcoms for television, or struggling to express something in everyday speech for which there is no adequate word.
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
edited 7 hours ago
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
answered 7 hours ago
CascabelCascabel
7,37362655
7,37362655
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
I know some users will no doubt take exception to my posting an answer on this; I felt it was interesting based on the productivity issue. I have posted one or two thingies on this, and felt it worthwhile.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
1
1
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
I’m not sure what you mean exactly by “such productivity” – do you mean productivity of a specific type? If so, which one? There are many processes in English which are completely productive (e.g., zero-derivation).
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
@JanusBahsJacquet Sorry...I mis-spoke myself. Thanks. Will edit. English is not generally considered to be a productive language, in comparison with other languages. As far as I know, English productivity is usually in verbing a noun, and obvious.
– Cascabel
7 hours ago
2
2
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
No, -eus is definitely not productive. But I don’t think there’s anything less productive about English than most other languages. There are lots of productive processes in English; new words can be productively formed in a wide array of ways – no fewer than any other language I can think of. (And it doesn’t really make sense to describe a language as productive: processes are productive, meaning they can be freely applied in circumstances they hadn’t been used in before; that doesn’t apply to a whole language.)
– Janus Bahs Jacquet
7 hours ago
2
2
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
Prometheus was a Titan, not a god. Perhaps it would be more accurate to claim that the "-eus" suffix evokes Greek mythology in general.
– ApproachingDarknessFish
5 hours ago
|
show 9 more comments
user331966 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
user331966 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
user331966 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
user331966 is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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4
Hello, and welcome to EL&U. It would be heard as "half-off" (in other words, a discount of 50%) plus eus to make it sound like a god such as Morpheus, or Prometheus. It would be readily understood by a native speaker, but possibly opaque to a non-native speaker.
– Cascabel
8 hours ago
1
Note that malls, AKA shopping malls, often have sales, like a half-off sale. So the god of malls might be called "half-offeus".
– Todd Wilcox
4 hours ago