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BMO Posted 20 years ago
Vocabulary

Darling

Suffix -ling denotes pejorative. How can it be in Darling? Thanks.
  

Top answer

BMO Suffix -ling denotes pejorative. How can it be in Darling? Thanks.

— Philip

  • BMO Suffix -ling denotes pejorative.
  • How can it be in Darling?
  • Thanks.
  • "ling" is not a suffix, here.
  • The word is 'darling'.
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13 Answers
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BMOSuffix -ling denotes pejorative. How can it be in Darling? Thanks.
"ling" is not a suffix, here. The word is 'darling'. Can you give me some examples of 'ling = pejorative"? I'm not aware of that suffix.
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Hi,

Perhaps a princeling? Or, Froda was a halfling.

In my lexicon, it's pejorative to call someone a ding-a-ling.
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It's definitely pejorative to call someone a "Q/quisling":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quisling

but ling isn't a quite a suffix there, or perhaps it is in Norway.
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Sure. Underling, duckling, princeling, yearling, gosling, darkling, godling. Just go to www.onelook.com and enter -ling.

Darling = dear + ling.
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Do you mean "diminutive" instead of "perjorative"?
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Grammar GeekDo you mean "diminutive" instead of "perjorative"?

Thank you, GG!
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Yes, diminutive, definitely. I can't think of a pejorative suffix in English.
I don't know if Quisling's name was derived from a diminutive of something. I had a schoolteacher called Gosling!
BTW I think darling probably is a diminutive, derived from dear-ling. Maybe someone can look up the etymology.
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Do you mean "pejorative" instead of perjorative"?

"It is so frequently misspelled as perjorative that the Oxford English Dictionary website contains a FAQ http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/perjorative?view=uk about this misspelling.
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One should never by suprised when I have an r that doesn't belong or forget one that does. However, please quote your source next time you copy and paste from Wikipedia.
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Grammar Geek However, please quote your source next time you copy and paste from Wikipedia.

Touché!
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