Talk:aardworm
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The following discussion has been moved from Wiktionary:Requests for cleanup (permalink).
This discussion is no longer live and is left here as an archive. Please do not modify this conversation, but feel free to discuss its conclusions.
Verbo entry: "An insignificant critter 'writhing in the dust', notably a mortal versus divinity". I really don't know what this means. "An insignificant critter" makes sense, though 'critter' seems to me to be not the best choice of word, after that I really don't know. Mglovesfun (talk) 09:31, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- I'm not sure either. It seems like if you call someone a 'worm' or a 'maggot' but I really can't say I've heard the word being used very often in that sense, if at all. —CodeCat 10:29, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- It looks like a metaphorical combination of earth, in the sense of earthly, and worm in its pejorative sense, calqued into Dutch. I suppose it might show up in poetry or some over-the-top religious tract (using what I've heard described as "worm theology": "without God's Grace we are all just worms writhing in the dust of mortal existence"). Seems a bit of a stretch, but, then, bad writing can be found in any language... Chuck Entz (talk) 14:21, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- But "earthly worm" in Dutch translates into aardse worm, which would specifically indicate a worm from Earth (compare buitenaards (“alien, extraterrestrial”)). aardworm is earth-worm, nothing more. —CodeCat 14:44, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- I have used the word creature in stead. --DrJos (talk) 10:36, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
- But "earthly worm" in Dutch translates into aardse worm, which would specifically indicate a worm from Earth (compare buitenaards (“alien, extraterrestrial”)). aardworm is earth-worm, nothing more. —CodeCat 14:44, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- It looks like a metaphorical combination of earth, in the sense of earthly, and worm in its pejorative sense, calqued into Dutch. I suppose it might show up in poetry or some over-the-top religious tract (using what I've heard described as "worm theology": "without God's Grace we are all just worms writhing in the dust of mortal existence"). Seems a bit of a stretch, but, then, bad writing can be found in any language... Chuck Entz (talk) 14:21, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
- Has been cleaned up --P5Nd2 (talk) 13:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC)