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Thread ID: 66233	2006-02-15 22:24:00	An English word definition	Greg (193)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
430697	2006-02-16 04:02:00	It must be a word though.. you type pontify in google and you get heaps of hits	Myth (110)
430698	2006-02-16 04:12:00	It doesn't have to be a real word to be found on Google. It just have to have been used by enough people who can't spell.	Graham L (2)
430699	2006-02-16 04:21:00	It is a real word Greg, it means to speak bombastically, or to act as, or in the manner of, a pontiff. The word pontificate stems from the roots pontiff and pontify. It is pretty obscure though. I'm not sure that they fit your intended use, but you are correct in assuming that it is a real word. Cheers Billy 8-{) Damn, there goes a perfectly good WFTWE that I won't be able to use now!	Billy T (70)
430700	2006-02-16 04:47:00	Rubbish, Billy . The nearest word in all the Oxfords is "Pontiac" . I doubt if it will appear in the Oxfords with examples like " . . . The tragedy comes when the crowds pontify these characters and file in selective memories while painting everything with the same brush . . . " . It is found on Google . anything can be found on Google . The world is full of semiliterate people who write things on their computers and expose them to the world with the magic of the Internet . I will excommunicate such people if I ever get a chance . If that doesn't work, a word which sounds like that one is "crucify" . It does exist . I am "officiating as bishop" while making that judgement . :D	Graham L (2)
430701	2006-02-16 04:58:00	Sorry Graham, English is a living and ever-developing language . Words come and words go, and the Oxford is not the sole arbiter of what is and isn't a word . Pontify has roots that go back a fair way, and words are validated by usage, not academics; witness "google" as one such example that has entered the language in recent times . I wouldn't be surprised though, if pontify could be found in the "full" Oxford dictionary, the one that comes in multiple volumes and costs three arms and five legs . :D Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
430702	2006-02-16 05:07:00	Sorry Billy, it's not in any of the Oxford dictionaries, including the 2nd edition of the monster. (Or in any of the 100 reference books in the Oxford Premium Online Reference database). Nor in Webster-Merriam. Excommunicado te.	Graham L (2)
430703	2006-02-16 05:43:00	It is in the full OED, examples quoted date from 1883 to 1900 . " To play the pontiff; to speak or behave ‘pontifically’, or with assumption of authority or infallibility . " so :confused: Good point though about Google not being an authority on words coz peeps right alsorts of ******** .	mark c (247)
430704	2006-02-16 06:22:00	Rubbish, Billy. The nearest word in all the Oxfords is "Pontiac". Rubbish. I doubt if it will appear in the Oxfords with examples like " .. . The tragedy comes when the crowds pontify these characters and file in selective memories while painting everything with the same brush .. ." . No, it appears in the Online Oxford with the following examples "1883 Times 19 Feb. 8 Wagner always seemed to pontify when he talked. 1892 Sat. Rev. 28 May 635/2 He is one of the few scientific men who do not ‘pontify’. 1900 Macm. Mag. Jan. 185 Stevenson was always inclined to preach, to pontify, to be didactic." I'm accessing it as a Wgtn Public Library subscriber.	PaulD (232)
430705	2006-02-16 06:50:00	Yo PaulD well researched. Pontify........................................... .......................1 He who reserves the right to pontificate......................0	mark c (247)
430706	2006-02-16 09:07:00	It is in my 'pocket' dictionary. Collins English Gem Dictionary. Last reprint 1966. Pontify, pontificate; act as Pontiff; speak bombastically. It is in my 'pocket' spelling dictionary also. The Oxford Minidictionary of Spelling. Published 1986. Pontify, ( Pontifies, Pontified, Pontifying ).	xxll (5902)
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