- Joined
- Jun 13, 2005
- Messages
- 63,757
- Reaction score
- 31,328
Do you pronounce "short-lived" wrong?
- Thread starter Fedorgasm
- Start date
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2011
- Messages
- 9,238
- Reaction score
- 25,125
Well, when something has a short life (noun), it obviously means it lives a short time. But that's not related to how the word is constructed. The etymology of the word refers to a description (short, long) of the life that belongs to a certain thing, and comes from the noun life. Check any etymological source you'd like, and you'll find the same thing. Something that has a life is "lifed," just like something that has hair is "haired." And if the life or the hair is short, then you say "short-lived" or "short-haired." It's exactly the same construction.
short-lived - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
[edit]From short + lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short + life + -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).
Usage notes
[edit]- The pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/ (the second syllable rhyming with dived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.
Anotha one:
Usage Note: The pronunciation (-līvd) is etymologically correct since the compound is derived from the noun life, rather than from the verb live. But the pronunciation (-lĭvd) is by now so common that it cannot be considered an error. In our 2005 survey, 90 percent of the Usage Panel found (-lĭvd) acceptable and 75 percent found (-līvd) acceptable.
short-lived
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of short-lived by The Free Dictionary
www.thefreedictionary.com
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2022
- Messages
- 6,757
- Reaction score
- 13,057
I was finna drop sum knowledge but seem like mandem got it down good job 6ixdog 
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2004
- Messages
- 41,847
- Reaction score
- 12,772
I will never pronounce that with the long i sound. Never.
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2008
- Messages
- 30,514
- Reaction score
- 42,556
Thank God you're in this thread. You do a much better job of explaining it than I did.Well, when something has a short life (noun), it obviously means it lives a short time. But that's not related to how the word is constructed. The etymology of the word refers to a description (short, long) of the life that belongs to a certain thing, and comes from the noun life. Check any etymological source you'd like, and you'll find the same thing. Something that has a life is "lifed," just like something that has hair is "haired." And if the life or the hair is short, then you say "short-lived" or "short-haired." It's exactly the same construction.
short-lived - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
en.wiktionary.org
Etymology
[edit]
From short + lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short + life + -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).
Usage notes
[edit]
- The pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/ (the second syllable rhyming with dived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.
Anotha one:
Usage Note: The pronunciation (-līvd) is etymologically correct since the compound is derived from the noun life, rather than from the verb live. But the pronunciation (-lĭvd) is by now so common that it cannot be considered an error. In our 2005 survey, 90 percent of the Usage Panel found (-lĭvd) acceptable and 75 percent found (-līvd) acceptable.
short-lived
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of short-lived by The Free Dictionary
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2008
- Messages
- 30,514
- Reaction score
- 42,556
I could even accept this as long as you admit that the root word is the noun "life" and not the verb "live"
Then you'd be saying, "I understand that I'm pronouncing it in a way that used to be wrong but it's generally accepted now so fuck you."
I could totally live with that.
What I can't live with is all these dudes who are saying, the root is the verb lived with a short i and it's never been wrong to say it that way.
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2008
- Messages
- 52,300
- Reaction score
- 26,680
Well, when something has a short life (noun), it obviously means it lives a short time. But that's not related to how the word is constructed. The etymology of the word refers to a description (short, long) of the life that belongs to a certain thing, and comes from the noun life. Check any etymological source you'd like, and you'll find the same thing. Something that has a life is "lifed," just like something that has hair is "haired." And if the life or the hair is short, then you say "short-lived" or "short-haired." It's exactly the same construction.
short-lived - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
[edit]
From short + lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short + life + -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).
Usage notes
[edit]
- The pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/ (the second syllable rhyming with dived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.
Anotha one:
Usage Note: The pronunciation (-līvd) is etymologically correct since the compound is derived from the noun life, rather than from the verb live. But the pronunciation (-lĭvd) is by now so common that it cannot be considered an error. In our 2005 survey, 90 percent of the Usage Panel found (-lĭvd) acceptable and 75 percent found (-līvd) acceptable.
short-lived
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of short-lived by The Free Dictionary
So why isn't it written as short-lifed?
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2008
- Messages
- 30,514
- Reaction score
- 42,556
It really should be. And a cat would have "9 lifes"
But of course English isn't always logical.
I mean someone who's been in the military for a long time is called a "lifer" not a "liver" LOL
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2008
- Messages
- 52,300
- Reaction score
- 26,680
It rarely ever is, bud. Lol
You should start a petition to get the spelling changed, IMO.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Messages
- 23,411
- Reaction score
- 34,513
Well, when something has a short life (noun), it obviously means it lives a short time. But that's not related to how the word is constructed. The etymology of the word refers to a description (short, long) of the life that belongs to a certain thing, and comes from the noun life. Check any etymological source you'd like, and you'll find the same thing. Something that has a life is "lifed," just like something that has hair is "haired." And if the life or the hair is short, then you say "short-lived" or "short-haired." It's exactly the same construction.
short-lived - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Etymology
[edit]
From short + lived (“having a life, lifed”), equivalent to short + life + -ed. Compare Middle English short-livi, sort-levi (“short-lived”).
Usage notes
[edit]
- The pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlaɪvd/ (the second syllable rhyming with dived) is more consistent with the etymology (since the term comes from the noun life rather than the verb live), and was formerly more common; however, the pronunciation /ʃɔɹtˈlɪvd/ (the second syllable pronounced as the verb lived) is more common today.
Anotha one:
Usage Note: The pronunciation (-līvd) is etymologically correct since the compound is derived from the noun life, rather than from the verb live. But the pronunciation (-lĭvd) is by now so common that it cannot be considered an error. In our 2005 survey, 90 percent of the Usage Panel found (-lĭvd) acceptable and 75 percent found (-līvd) acceptable.
short-lived
Definition, Synonyms, Translations of short-lived by The Free Dictionary
Alright then, I guess @Fedorgasm was right all along. But at what cost?? From now on he’s going to have a reputation as Sherdog’s most pedantic asshole. Was it really worth it?
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2008
- Messages
- 30,514
- Reaction score
- 42,556
At least they'll have something to write on my tombstone now
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2015
- Messages
- 23,411
- Reaction score
- 34,513
Hopefully you’ll be long-lifed and they won’t need to write your epitaph for many years to come.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2009
- Messages
- 25,793
- Reaction score
- 1,522
You really shouldn't be posting in threads that have to do with proper EnglishI was finna drop sum knowledge but seem like mandem got it down good job 6ixdog
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2004
- Messages
- 41,847
- Reaction score
- 12,772
So you’re saying that the “lived” in short-lived is a noun and not a verb?
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2007
- Messages
- 5,600
- Reaction score
- 3,396
Well you still have some practice to complete.
For example you misspelled "pronouns" in the thread title.
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2006
- Messages
- 43,475
- Reaction score
- 26,570
No he’s just wrong. It has the long I sound in “live” because the word ends in E. When you add the D, the word no longer ends in E so it no longer makes the long vowel sound
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2016
- Messages
- 6,911
- Reaction score
- 5,142
its an american thing isnt it ? Ive never in all my 50 plus years of speaking real Queens English say it the way you are saying.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2007
- Messages
- 20,228
- Reaction score
- 10,611
