Gee, I haven't seen any postings from anybody with a "lack of capacity of concern." The word you keep bringing up is "perturbate" and that word is exactly what Chaucer et al used, as both a verb and as a noun: perturbate, perturbated, perturbating, perturbation, etc. You can't credit Twain for inventing the present tense of the word if somebody used the past tense a few centuries before him. Are we really having this dicsussion? Masticate on this for awhile. Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 [log in to unmask] 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, BS, ILAB, MS *************************** You may browse our inventory at: www.macdonnellrarebooks.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Slotta" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001 10:58 AM Subject: The word "perturbate" > I am afraid there has been a misunderstanding about one word. I was just > talking about the use of one word, "perturbate." > > I was not talking about the word perturb, or perturbed, or perturbating, or > perturbs, or perturben, or perturber, or even the latin perturbare (per > [intensive] + turbare [to throw in disorder]). I wasn't talking about second > cousins of the word either. Nor am I interested in the Chinese equivalent of > any form of the word. > > I am simply interested in the word "perturbate" as being attributable to > Twain for its first use in print or not. That's all. Those who lack a > capacity of concern in this matter need not reply. > > Thanks, > Bob >