On 5/27/2020 9:59 AM, Lieven L. Litaer wrote:
KGT lists {nuH} as "possibility", and I think this must be an error. The main body of KGT explains that {nuH} can be used metaphorically for "possiblity", but the regular word for "possibility" is {DuH}. (KGT p. 109+110)
What is the common treatment of this? Is there any information I'm missing? Does {nuH }really mean possiblity, or is only used metaphorically, like slang words are? In that case, the list should have had a remark like other slang words.
It's not slang, it's a metaphor. *nuH* means /possibility/ in the same way that *Soj* means /subject matter./ It's an actual meaning the word has picked up that can be used outside of slang contexts. The word literally means /weapon,/ but you can use it idiomatically to mean /possibility. /We're only told that it appears in the idiom *Hoch nuH qel*/consider every possibility,/ but the fact that it appears separately on the word list suggests that it can be used with this metaphorical sense wherever you like. -- SuStel http://trimboli.name