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February 2007

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Subject:
From:
Natalie Gerber <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 14 Feb 2007 12:11:00 -0500
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Hi folks--

A colleague asked me why "unwinnable" is marked by Microsoft Word as an
unacceptable word form, and I wasn't sure. Do you have an answer?

She had wondered whether it is "because the prefix 'un' connotes the
undoing of something as opposed to the 'not' doing something (as in 'not
winnable')?" Yet it strikes me that, however awkward the word form is,
there are many counterexamples, such as "unachievable," that negate this
reason. 

Thanks for your help,

Natalie Gerber
SUNY Fredonia

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