'Propulsively' - a word?

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

How do you feel about 'propulsively'?

Someone says:

--------
'Propulsive' the adjective is in the dictionary. However 'propulsively'
the adverb is not.

So, I spoke to an english professor last night and I was told...

A verb can not be described as 'propulsive', therefore it is not an
adverb. "The bat propulsively affected the ball" is incorrect.
However, "The effect of the bat was propulsive" is correct. When you
say "Propulsively affected" you are actually trying to describe the
EFFECT of the verb and not the verb itself. The act itself of
'affecting' the ball is not propulsive - the effect of said 'affecting'
is propulsive, which means you're describing a NOUN not a verb and an
adjective needs to be used, not an adverb.

Further, he says, "propulsive can't describe any verb nor any adjective
accept itself. No action can be propulsively anything except ...
propulsive."
----------

Google Books shows it:

443 hits on 'propulsively'

in many reviewed scientific books.

How do you feel about it?

Does it make sense or not?

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

[tinwhistler]

It's being used here in SoCal so I'll support it in what looks to be a
self-explanatory, sensible usage; Google hit:

A doctor's tale
Los Angeles Times, CA - Apr 30, 2008
... realized work of imagined history, a rich and varied character
study and a subtly layered novel of ideas, all wrapped in a
propulsively readable story.

--
Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego

[Mike Lyle]

I don't like the reasoning you quote, which smacks to me of sophistry. A
force could be said to act propulsively; but even if it couldn't,
"propulsively" would still be an adverb.

--
Mike.

** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[Lars Eighner]

In our last episode, <RB_Wj.11460$_r5....@wagner.videotron.net>, the lovely
and talented Marius Hancu broadcast on alt.usage.english:

> Hello:

> Someone says:

> Google Books shows it:

> 443 hits on 'propulsively'

The professor's argument makes me want to vomit propulsively.

> Does it make sense or not?

The 'is it a word?' question is always pointless. By the time it is asked,
it is answered. Because 'propulsively' is regularly formed from an
undoubted adjective, the presumption must be on its side.

I must admit I do not follow the professor's argument at all, but I gather
it is composed of about equal parts of his concept of natural philosophy
with special application to mechanics and utter bullshit. Even if I am just
to dense to see that the argument is internally consistent and physically
correct, this kind of argument is not especially telling when it comes to
natural language. I can argue at any length required that centrifugal force
does not exist, but somehow 'centifugal force' will not vanish from the
language.

The professor argues that 'you are actually trying to describe the
EFFECT of the verb and not the verb itself' as if this were a damning
indictment. I suggest that one person's attractive smile is another
person's mockish grimmace. So, "smiled attractively" must be describing the
EFFECT of the verb (on the viewer). "Attractively" isn't a word? This line
of argument doesn't pass the laugh test.

--
Lars Eighner <http://larseighner.com/> use...@larseighner.com
Countdown: 249 days to go.

[Matt]

It sounds a little ugly, but "repulsively" means "in a manner causing
repulsion", and no one has a problem with that, so I see no reason why
"propulsively" should not mean "in a manner causing propulsion". I
think that the argument against is largely bogus, assuming I
understood it correctly, which is not guaranteed.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2008-05-15 18:41:06 +0200, Marius Hancu <NOS...@videotron.ca> said:

> Hello:
>
> How do you feel about 'propulsively'?
>
> Someone says:
>
> --------
> 'Propulsive' the adjective is in the dictionary. However
> 'propulsively' the adverb is not.
>
> So, I spoke to an english professor last night and I was told...
>
> A verb can not be described as 'propulsive', therefore it is not an
> adverb. "The bat propulsively affected the ball" is incorrect.

> However, "The effect of the bat was propulsive" is correct. ...

I think I'll stop there: anyone who can seriously recommend "The
effect of the bat was propulsive" is not to be taken seriously, English
professor or no (unless by English Professor you mean someone who is
both English and a professor, but not a Professor of English).

I've never felt the need to say "propulsively", but I've no objection
to it. -ly is generally regarded as a living suffix in English, which
means you can use it to convert any adjective you like into an adverb.
It doesn't matter whether the adverb is explicitly in the dictionary;
it is implicitly there if the parent adjective is there.

--
athel