Posted March 28, 2006 12:24 PM
Posted by Frank James at 12:04 p.m CST
The Indian embassy issued a press release with a word unfamiliar to a few of us in the newsroom--'prepone,' as in "We will prepone the press conference, not postpone it." For anyone out there who knows, is this a typical Indian usage or is there a rogue wordsmith at the Indian embassy?
March 28, 2006
Embassy of India, Washington DC
PRESS ADVISORY
Please note that the Press conference of Mr. Shyam Saran, Foreign Secretary of India has been preponed to 14:00Hrs on March 31,2006.
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Comments
Wow! Prepone is a real, and much discussed, word. You must read
http://www.languagehat.com/archives/000645.php
which states:
"PREPONE....
an interesting word used in Indian English:
to prepone - example: The Friday meeting has been preponed to Thursday morning. (This word is succinct and useful. It deserves a place in English languages everywhere. I urge everyone who reads this to adopt it and help it grow.)"
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and
"an entry in The Atlantic's 'Word Fugitives' archives:
The word 'prepone' is found in The New Oxford Dictionary of English, published 1998. It is listed as being Indian (from India) and is defined as: to bring forward to an earlier date or time. Example given: The publication date has been preponed from July to June."
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All of which has led to a very intersting blog from India
http://underthefirestar.blogspot.com/
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Thanks for the little exercise in curiosities.
Posted by: Honest Response | March 29, 2006 9:24 PM
Hi, however strange this 'prepone' word may appear to the native English speakers, it precisely explains itself logically in use(opposite to 'postpone')and convenient to use. It should find itself deeply rooted in the English language and should be given an official entry to all authentic dictionaries.
Posted by: Sanjit Dutta | March 27, 2007 1:55 AM