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Subject:Re: How do you spell "unreproducible" ? From:Beverly Parks <bparks -at- HUACHUCA-EMH1 -dot- ARMY -dot- MIL> Date:Fri, 9 Jun 1995 07:39:00 MST
Joanna Sheldon <cjs10 -at- CORNELL -dot- EDU> wrote-->
> Teach Frame a lesson -- unreproducible is correct.
I'm in complete agreement. As far as the suffix goes, it's
definitely "ible" IAW my AHD entry for reproduce. I tossed
around the prefixes "un" and "non" and decided that "un" was
correct. "Non" means not. "Un" also means not, but it can also
mean "the opposite of."
Because you are using it as an adjective, I went with "un" for
its "oppositeness." :) For example:
good dog -- bad dog
reproducible medium -- unreproducible medium
If you were to say, "The medium is ...," then not, non-, or un-
would be fine IMO.
I was almost going to recommend the notice be reworded to
something simpler, like "Requested data cannot be reproduced." But
that leaves out the important element of WHY.
=*= Beverly Parks =*= bparks -at- huachuca-emh1 -dot- army -dot- mil =*=
=*= "Unless otherwise stated, all comments are my own. =*=
=*= I am not representing my employer in any way." =*=
