Infixes inside Words

Vivian Cook

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One of the characteristics of English words is that any modifications to them occur at the beginning or the end, not in the middle. Mix can have something added at the beginning re-mix or at the end, mixes, mixer, but never in the middle, called infixes. This distinguishes English from many other languages like Inuktitit which thrive on adding things to words and end up with what to an English eye appears gigantic words qangatasuukkuvimmuuriaqa-laaqtunga (I'll have to go to the airport).

However there is one group of exceptions to this rule seen in fanbloomingtastic where the word blooming has apparently been put in the middle of fantastic. The only words that can be inserted in this way are those which show extra emotion, hence often they are swearwords used within exclamations. They are not grammatical 'morphemes' as would be found in other languages.

Here is a list of some of the words that were found by James McMillan.

awfully: beawfullyware

bally: absoballylutely

bleeding: absobleedinglutely

bleep: fivebleepmile

blessed: absoblessedlutely

bloody: railbloodyway, whatsobloodyever, kangabloodyroo

blooming: absobloominglutely

damn: abdamnsurd, Piccadamnlilly

fucking: somefuckingplace, selfdefuckingfence

goddamn: ingoddamconsistent, guarangoddamntee

jolly: theojollylogical

posi: absoposilutely

Perhaps the only ones likely to be heard with any regularity are the word 'absoXlutely' with different words inserted and 'bloody' as a word to be inserted. See if you can make up interesting new versions using the above forms.

1 footXXXball

2 RyanXXXair

3 inteXXresting

4 daffoXXdil

5 Boris XXXX Johnson

6 roadXXXhog

7 answerXXphone

8 hospXXXital

9 uniXXversity

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