Doable ??

[nq:1]... is it a real word or just slang??[/nq]
I think it's used often enough to be a real word. It has a pedigree going back to the 15th Century so it's not new.

John Dean
Oxford

[nq:2]... is it a real word or just slang??[/nq]
[nq:1]I think it's used often enough to be a real word. It has a pedigree going back to the 15th Century so it's not new.[/nq]
Well, if they have had 500 years and haven't got it done by now, is it really doable?
s/ meirman
Posting from alt.english.usage

For gosh sakes, when you ask a question, say what sort of English you a

[nq:2]... is it a real word or just slang??[/nq]
[nq:1]I think it's used often enough to be a real word. It has a pedigree going back to the 15th Century so it's not new.[/nq]
Even apart from the pedigree, what rational objection could possibly be made? It is formed from perfectly standard elements, combined in a perfectly standard manner. Even were it not attested earlier than last Tuesda

[nq:2]I think it's used often enough to be a real word. It has a pedigree going back to the 15th Century so it's not new.[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, if they have had 500 years and haven't got it done by now, is it really doable?[/nq]
If the paso doable is doable so's doable.

John Dean
Oxford

[nq:1]... is it a real word or just slang??[/nq]
All slang is composed of real words, and much slang is listed in current general dictionaries. Even a word such as "grok," originally a fictional word from the language of Mars which is used in Robert Heinlein's *Stranger in a Strange Land,* has now been used sufficiently to appear as an entry in Encarta, RHUD, and AHD4. In each case, it is labe

[nq:2]... is it a real word or just slang??[/nq]
[nq:1]All slang is composed of real words, and much slang is listed in current general dictionaries. Even a word such ... Try www.onelook.com , for example, which searches several dictionaries to show whether the word being searched for is an entry.[/nq]
I see online that Encarta US lists it as informal. The UK version I have here doesn't.

[nq:2]All slang is composed of real words, and much slang ... show whether the word being searched for is an entry.[/nq]
[nq:1]I see online that Encarta US lists it as informal. The UK version I have here doesn't.[/nq]
And "informal," for those unfamiliar with the labeling conventions used in dictionaries which includes even some who read this newsgroup is not synonymous with "slang."

[nq:2]Well, if they have had 500 years and haven't got it done by now, is it really doable?[/nq]
[nq:1]If the paso doable is doable so's doable.[/nq]
Which raises the question, are there contractions in many other languages?
Which ones have them and which ones don't.
Which one's use apostrophes, which one's use something else, and which use nothing?
s/ meirman
Posting from

Which one's (sic) use apostrophes? French does, although I believe that what French does to call for apostrophes is elision rather than contracting. The letter left out is always a terminal "e" pronounced only when it is the only vowel in the word, as in "le" (l@) and "ce" (s@) (masc. "the" and demonstrative "this" or "it"), unless it's the a in "la" (la) (fem. "the"). Replaced with an apostrophe

[nq:2]If the paso doable is doable so's doable.[/nq]
[nq:1]Which raises the question, are there contractions in many other languages? Which ones have them and which ones don't.[/nq]
French: S'il vous plaît (si il vous plaît)
Des (de les)
German: Mir geht's gut (mir geht es gut)
Hat's geschmeckt? (hat es geschmeckt)
I'm certain there are others.