Why isn't "boor" a verb?

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I looked up
the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin, that it's not a
verb. It's only a noun.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boor
So can it be properly written as: "She didn't want to boor me?"

That makes about as much sense as "She didn't want to boer me".

bill

p***@googlemail.com

2017-12-23 12:22:59 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.

Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or peasant.

J. J. Lodder

2017-12-24 12:13:23 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is
a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or
peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

Jan

p***@googlemail.com

2017-12-24 18:21:57 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is
a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or
peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.
Jan

As the word was in use long before those events I can sadly not agree .... but I love 'veldt hats'!

J. J. Lodder

2017-12-24 20:10:57 UTC

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boor
So can it be properly written as: "She didn't want to boor me?"

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand,
is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer',
farmer or peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.
Jan

As the word was in use long before those events I can sadly not agree ....
but I love 'veldt hats'!

Yes, of course. But the original Dutch Boer, like the African one,
is not a peasant.
The 'boer' is the master of a farm.
Rich ones became 'hereboer'. (lit. gentleman farmer)
(Dutch plural is 'Boeren' btw, not Boers)

The English greatly misjudged the Boers.
They took them for just another kind of natives,
just like all other natives, except for happening to be white.
They discovered, much to their chagrin, that those 'Boers'
could bring the latest in military technology to bear, and on them,

Jan

Sam Plusnet

2017-12-24 18:46:17 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is
a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or
peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?

(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

--
Sam Plusnet

Tony Cooper

2017-12-24 19:50:54 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is
a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or
peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?
(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

I had to look up "pom-pom bullets". A real thing:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_1-pounder_pom-pom

Also, I did not know that "dumdum bullets" are a BrE thing. In the
US, a dumdum is a bullet that expands on impact. Often, they are
non-expanding bullets that are altered to be dumdums. They are
illegal by international treaty.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

J. J. Lodder

2017-12-24 20:37:46 UTC

Post by Tony Cooper

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boor
So can it be properly written as: "She didn't want to boor me?"

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand,
is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer',
farmer or peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?
(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_1-pounder_pom-pom
Also, I did not know that "dumdum bullets" are a BrE thing. In the
US, a dumdum is a bullet that expands on impact. Often, they are
non-expanding bullets that are altered to be dumdums. They are
illegal by international treaty.

By one of the The Hague treaties.
These treaties also forbid explosive bullets
weighing less than one pound.
So the pom-pom, at the lowest allowed weight, is still a heavy weapon
that needs to be transported on a horse drawn carriage or mounting.
The main problem the Boers had with it was resupply of ammo,

Jan

J. J. Lodder

2017-12-24 20:10:58 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand,
is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer
or peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?
(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

You've been whooshed. Think and all that.

But factual: The Boers were the first users in war
of Maxim's 1-pounder 'pom-pom' autocannon. (from the sound it makes)
It fired 37 mm, one pound, explosive shells at about 300 rpm,
with devastating effect.
Quite frightening, even when they didn't actually hit anything.

The English at first rejected autocannons as no good,
but the Boers forced them to change their minds.

Jan

PS In later wars the pom-pom became the standard anti-aircraft gun.

Sam Plusnet

2017-12-24 23:48:56 UTC

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand,
is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer
or peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?
(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

You've been whooshed. Think and all that.
But factual: The Boers were the first users in war
of Maxim's 1-pounder 'pom-pom' autocannon. (from the sound it makes)
It fired 37 mm, one pound, explosive shells at about 300 rpm,
with devastating effect.
Quite frightening, even when they didn't actually hit anything.
The English at first rejected autocannons as no good,
but the Boers forced them to change their minds.
Jan
PS In later wars the pom-pom became the standard anti-aircraft gun.

Many anti-aircraft guns on naval ships were/are described as pom poms,
but I was thrown by the separate reference to the ammunition.

The (UK) Royal Navy had a large number of 40mm Bofors guns left over
from WWII. I recall seeing one, labelled as having been manufactured in
1944, installed on a vessel built and launched in the 1970s.

--
Sam Plusnet

J. J. Lodder

2017-12-27 19:57:25 UTC

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boor
So can it be properly written as: "She didn't want to boor me?"

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand,
is a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer
or peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

pom-pom bullets?
Is this the same thing as (BrE) Dumdum bullets?
(Dum Dum - an arsenal near Calcutta.)

You've been whooshed. Think and all that.
But factual: The Boers were the first users in war
of Maxim's 1-pounder 'pom-pom' autocannon. (from the sound it makes)
It fired 37 mm, one pound, explosive shells at about 300 rpm,
with devastating effect.
Quite frightening, even when they didn't actually hit anything.
The English at first rejected autocannons as no good,
but the Boers forced them to change their minds.
Jan
PS In later wars the pom-pom became the standard anti-aircraft gun.

Many anti-aircraft guns on naval ships were/are described as pom poms,
but I was thrown by the separate reference to the ammunition.

Given that it's from 1066 and all that
the confusion is no doubt deliberate.

Post by Sam Plusnet
The (UK) Royal Navy had a large number of 40mm Bofors guns left over
from WWII. I recall seeing one, labelled as having been manufactured in
1944, installed on a vessel built and launched in the 1970s.

Guns, especially big ones, last forever.
I saw a listing once of what the Germans had installed
in the Atlantik Wall bunkers:
confiscated big guns from all over Europe, many from WW I
all different sizes of munitions, munitions stolen with the guns.
They couldn't be resupplied at all.
In some cases in Normandy the guns were there,
but they couldn't fire a shot
because their munitions hadn't arrived yet.

Jan

Janet

2017-12-29 18:45:06 UTC

In article <***@de-ster.xs4all.nl>, ***@de-
ster.demon.nl says...

No. Bore and boor are not synonyms and have completely different etymologies.
Bore, in the sense of effecting tedium, is an extension of the usual
meaning of the word, to drill or burrow into. Boor, on the other hand, is
a rough, ill mannered person and comes from the Dutch 'boer', farmer or
peasant.

As far as the English are concerned
it is more likely the South African Boers,
who treacherously defeated them all the time
by wearing veldt hats and using pom-pom bullets.

If only they had worn pom-pom hats and use felt bullets.

Janet.

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

2017-12-23 13:32:49 UTC

On Sat, 23 Dec 2017 05:39:10 +0000 (UTC), harry newton

No. It should be: "She didn't want to bore me".

"boring" is part of the verb to "bore" in this sense:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bore#bore_Noun_200

bore 2
noun

1 A person whose talk or behaviour is dull and uninteresting.
‘he can be a crashing bore’

verb
[with object]

Cause (someone) to feel weary and uninterested by dull talk or
behaviour.
‘she is too polite to bore us with anecdotes’
with object and complement ‘timid women quickly bore her silly’

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/boring

boring
adjective

Not interesting; tedious.
‘I've got a boring job in an office’

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bored#bored_Adjective_100

bored 1
adjective

Feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks
interest in one's current activity.
‘she got bored with staring out of the window’
‘they hung around all day, bored stiff’
‘bored teenagers’
‘John was soon bored to tears with the work’
‘she's bored out of her mind’

Merriam-Webster has similar definitions (nearly half way down this
page):
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bore

bore
noun
Definition of bore
: one that causes weariness and restlessness through lack of
interest : one that causes boredom: such as
a : a dull or tiresome person

His friends are a bunch of bores.

b : something that is devoid of interest

The lecture was a total bore.

bore
verb

bored; boring

transitive verb
: to cause to feel weariness and restlessness through lack of
interest : to cause to feel boredom

trying not to bore your audience

got bored by the party and left

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

harry newton

2017-12-23 14:42:11 UTC

Post by Peter Duncanson [BrE]
trying not to bore your audience

Peter,
Your response was the most useful because MW didn't seem to explicitly cite
bore as a verb.

I generally resort to MW since I'm in the USA - but your cites are more
general where yours literally show "bore" as a verb.

MW does not (at least not literally).

Thanks - I knew "bore" it had to be a verb - but MW didn't really say that
literally (which it should have, IMHO, since it seems commonly enough used
that way).

So I guess the question is why would MW NOT explicitly list "bore" as a
verb? (It bore as a verb perhaps considered passe' in the US?)

Peter T. Daniels

2017-12-23 14:49:02 UTC

Post by harry newton

Post by Peter Duncanson [BrE]
trying not to bore your audience

Of course it does. I don't know what version of "MW" you are looking at, but in the 11th Collegiate,
it's "bore6 vt (1768) to cause to feel boredom"

Post by harry newton
Thanks - I knew "bore" it had to be a verb - but MW didn't really say that
literally (which it should have, IMHO, since it seems commonly enough used
that way).
So I guess the question is why would MW NOT explicitly list "bore" as a
verb? (It bore as a verb perhaps considered passe' in the US?)

No, the question is why you didn't read the dictionary properly.

harry newton

2017-12-23 14:51:08 UTC

Post by Peter T. Daniels
No, the question is why you didn't read the dictionary properly.

Nolo contendere.
I see my mistake.
The spelling threw me off ...

Janet

2017-12-29 18:33:25 UTC

Post by harry newton

Post by Peter Duncanson [BrE]
trying not to bore your audience

Yes, it does.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bore

Post by harry newton
So I guess the question is why would MW NOT explicitly list "bore" as a
verb?

It does. See above.

Janet.

Bill Day

2017-12-26 15:29:13 UTC

On Sat, 23 Dec 2017 13:32:49 +0000, "Peter Duncanson [BrE]"

Post by Peter Duncanson [BrE]
On Sat, 23 Dec 2017 05:39:10 +0000 (UTC), harry newton

No. It should be: "She didn't want to bore me".
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bore#bore_Noun_200
bore 2
noun
1 A person whose talk or behaviour is dull and uninteresting.
he can be a crashing bore
verb
[with object]
Cause (someone) to feel weary and uninterested by dull talk or
behaviour.
she is too polite to bore us with anecdotes
with object and complement timid women quickly bore her silly
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/boring
boring
adjective
Not interesting; tedious.
I've got a boring job in an office
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/bored#bored_Adjective_100
bored 1
adjective
Feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks
interest in one's current activity.
she got bored with staring out of the window
they hung around all day, bored stiff
bored teenagers
John was soon bored to tears with the work
she's bored out of her mind
Merriam-Webster has similar definitions (nearly half way down this
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bore
bore
noun
Definition of bore
: one that causes weariness and restlessness through lack of
interest : one that causes boredom: such as
a : a dull or tiresome person
His friends are a bunch of bores.
b : something that is devoid of interest
The lecture was a total bore.
bore
verb
bored; boring
transitive verb
: to cause to feel weariness and restlessness through lack of
interest : to cause to feel boredom
trying not to bore your audience
got bored by the party and left

Except that 'bore' and 'boor' as nouns refer to two different sorts
of people..... and 'boor' is not used as a verb.

Boor-- "A crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement"
Bore- "A person who evokes boredom"... dull and uninteresting.

I suppose both characteristics may be found in the same individual,
but a person *may* be one OR the other.

--
remove nonsense for reply

Peter Moylan

2017-12-26 12:00:07 UTC

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.

"Boring" is neither a verb nor a noun.

Well, I take that partly back. I can think of a few rare situations
where "boring" can be a noun.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Peter T. Daniels

2017-12-26 13:20:18 UTC

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.

"Boring" is neither a verb nor a noun.

That depends on just how greatly you want to describe English in terms of Latin
categories.

Post by Peter Moylan
Well, I take that partly back. I can think of a few rare situations
where "boring" can be a noun.

Boring is one of the main techniques used by miners.

Boring is one of the main techniques used by lecturers to put an audience to sleep.

Snidely

2017-12-26 19:34:29 UTC

Peter T. Daniels pounded on thar keyboard to tell us

Post by Peter T. Daniels

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.

"Boring" is neither a verb nor a noun.

That depends on just how greatly you want to describe English in terms of
Latin categories.

Post by Peter Moylan
Well, I take that partly back. I can think of a few rare situations
where "boring" can be a noun.

Boring is one of the main techniques used by miners.
Boring is one of the main techniques used by lecturers to put an audience to sleep.

That's the "how-to", not the "whats-it".

/dps

--
"That's a good sort of hectic, innit?"

" Very much so, and I'd recommend the haggis wontons."
-njm

Snidely

2017-12-26 19:35:12 UTC

Post by Snidely
Peter T. Daniels pounded on thar keyboard to tell us

Post by Peter T. Daniels

Post by harry newton
I wanted to write "She didn't mean to bore/boor/boar me" where I
looked up the spelling for "boring" and found, much to my chagrin,
that it's not a verb. It's only a noun.

"Boring" is neither a verb nor a noun.

That depends on just how greatly you want to describe English in terms of
Latin categories.

Post by Peter Moylan
Well, I take that partly back. I can think of a few rare situations
where "boring" can be a noun.

Boring is one of the main techniques used by miners.
Boring is one of the main techniques used by lecturers to put an audience to sleep.

That's the "how-to", not the "whats-it".

But watch your step as you enter the boring.

Post by Snidely
/dps

--
But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason
to 'be happy.'"
Viktor Frankl

Snidely

2017-12-26 19:32:52 UTC

On Tuesday, Peter Moylan pointed out that ...