Why is it "run slowly" or "run quickly" - but not "run fastly?"
Roger
Is there a rule that encompasses all three?
mm
wrote:
>Why is it "run slowly" or "run quickly" - but not "run fastly?"
>
>Is there a rule that encompasses all three?
Fastly is not a word. Fast is a word, both an adjective and an
adverb.
People, clocks, etc. do indeed run fast.
Not every adverb ends in -ly.
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I have lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 28 years
Martin Ambuhl
> Why is it "run slowly" or "run quickly" - but not "run fastly?"
>
> Is there a rule that encompasses all three?
Not all adjectives form adverbs by adding "-ly". There was an adverb
"fastly" in Old English, but it is now considered archaic and is rarely
seen. The modern adverb is "fast", and "run fast" is completely acceptable.
Eric Walker
[...]
> Not every adverb ends in -ly.
And, as a sidebar note, not every modifier that ends in -ly is an adverb.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker
Eric Walker
[...]
> Not every adverb ends in -ly.
And, as a sidebar note, not every modifier that ends in -ly is an adverb.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker
mm
<em...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:43:54 -0500, mm wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>> Not every adverb ends in -ly.
>
>And, as a sidebar note, not every modifier that ends in -ly is an adverb.
Holy-moley!
Glenn Knickerbocker
> On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:43:54 -0500, mm wrote:
>> Not every adverb ends in -ly.
> And, as a sidebar note, not every modifier that ends in -ly is an adverb.
A goodly number of people couldn't have put it better, or even as well.
¬R
mm
wrote:
>On Thu, 3 Mar 2011 11:00:37 +0000 (UTC), Eric Walker
><em...@owlcroft.com> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 03 Mar 2011 01:43:54 -0500, mm wrote:
>>
>>[...]
>>
>>> Not every adverb ends in -ly.
>>
>>And, as a sidebar note, not every modifier that ends in -ly is an adverb.
>
>Holy-moley!
It turns out I misspelled this, maybe, despite using spellcheck, which
doesn't care if it's capitalized or not.
I read that it's holy-moly, and I fear that holy is an adverb used to
limit the way someone can be moly.
Just kidding, RH calls it a noun, and holy is definitely an adjective
most of the time.
Eric Walker
[...]
> It turns out I misspelled this, maybe, despite using spellcheck, which
> doesn't care if it's capitalized or not.
>
> I read that it's holy-moly, and I fear that holy is an adverb used to
> limit the way someone can be moly.
>
> Just kidding, RH calls it a noun, and holy is definitely an adjective
> most of the time.
Moly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moly_%28herb%29) was an herb thought
sacred in ancient Greece. Inasmuch as The Big Red Cheese was granted his
powers by ancient Greek gods and heroes, it was appropriate for his
trademark exclamation to be thus derived.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker
Eric Walker
An apt and timely response. I'd have felt lonely had no one responded.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker
mm
Interesting. Random House just said\ it was imitative of holy smoke
and holy cow.