2016-09-02 11:47:33 +02:00
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abstract: A presentation of the new word 'atem' and why it's so desperately needed
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2019-10-30 13:28:37 +01:00
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lastupdated: 2012
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2016-09-02 11:47:33 +02:00
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---
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# Atem: a new word
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*2011.*
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Have you ever checked the Wiktionary entry for 'meta'? I have. It's
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2020-08-25 22:28:02 +02:00
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right [here](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meta#English). When I looked
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2016-09-02 11:47:33 +02:00
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at it, I noticed that there were no antonyms. *None!*
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But why?
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I often find it useful to be able to un-metaize complex thoughts:
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instead of thinking about thinking (meta-thinking), I think. Nothing
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else. However, when I mention that "I think", it may not be obvious
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that before I was thinking, I was thinking about thinking, which is why
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I have chosen to create *atem*, a new word whose only function is to act
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as meta's antonym. With this word, I can now say that "I atem-think",
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meaning "I think because I thought of thinking", or I can say that "I
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think", meaning "I think". 'atem' removes a lot of ambiguity from the
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English language.
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Ok, maybe not that often, but sometimes it's useful.
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Also, *atem* could be quite useful in abstract definitions, as a way to
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focus on making something abstract concrete instead of making something
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concrete abstract. For example, this page is probably an atem-page,
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because somewhere out there there's a page about this page.
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Perhaps every object in existence could be considered an atem object.
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It's not impossible, it just doesn't make much sense.
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Still, this word could be useful. I hope it gets into a dictionary.
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## Update, February 11, 2012 (UTC)
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I just found out that I'm not the only one who at some point found the
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lack of a meta antonym strange and annoying. Naturally, I can't rely on
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Wiktionary to give me the latest opinions on language extensions.
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A recent internet search for "meta antonym" gave me several links to
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pages where other people discussed the need. Someone have even proposed
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the word "mesa". I don't care if the new antonym becomes "atem", "mesa"
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(which I guess has nothing to do with
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[this Mesa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa_(computer_graphics))),
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or something else --- I just want it to exist.
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