Ruth(less)

I was raised by a writer, who himself was raised by an ad man, it is no surprise that I love words. A few years ago, watching an episode of “Scrubs,” I encountered an etymological phenomenon unfamiliar to me: back-formation. It’s when you remove a prefix or suffix from a word that cannot stand alone, but is nonetheless used as its own word. In the scene, the cocky surgical resident Turk and the ornery Dr. Cox are bickering — as usual. Cox proposes to Turk that the two continue in their state of mutual disdain, to which Turk responds: “Dr. Cox, you got it all wrong, man. I don’t disdain you. It’s quite the opposite. I dain you. If you get to know me better, […]