Tmesis: a unique word in English

[tuh-mee-sis]
The sole term in the English language to begin with tm- has an unusual meaning to match. Tmesis is the insertion of one or more words between the words that make up a compound phrase, as in “what-so-ever” inserted in the middle of “whatever.”

Origin
1580-90; < Late Latin tmēsis < Greek tmḗsis a cutting, equivalent to tmē-(variant stem of témnein to cut) + -sis -sis
Related formsExpand
tmetic [tuhmet-ik] 
From dictionary.com

 

Oh,my bleeding God.

When  like ever

Are you staging

The second  revelatory coming.

The past blatant  tense

Has brought weapons of mass  and benedictory construction

But where the hell ‘s arse are they?

Don’t be so effing crude.

Be saintly like me.

Not bloody so.

 

3 thoughts on “Tmesis: a unique word in English

Comments are closed.