Two Word Synonyms (TheMonotonePuppet's Forgivances)

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An Enteresting rabbit hole that Puppet has sent me down. She asked a question.

Google Search isn’t being helpful… so I thought I’d ask you. Is there a word for “things that have been forgiven”?

She ponders whether forgivances is a word. I look it up, and apparently it fell out of favor, but it was once a word (according to Oxford English Dictionary). Anyway, I thought of the word exonerations, and other words were brought up by @Sleds and @Assurbanipal_II respectively. Pardons, amnesties, condonations, clemencies, etc.

Anyway, this made me think of two word synonyms. At the base level you can use "forgiven deeds/actions/etc." I think about this stuff all the time when I am writing. I brought it up to a friend when using an easier example "walk slowly" vs "trudge" and other words like this. But isn't it easier when trying to cut adverbs? There always seems to be stronger verbs, but it seems much harder when you have a noun that's two words.

"Forgivances" only ends up a derivation of "forgive." I am kinda confusing myself writing this because I don't know much about this area of English. But my question is, if you are writing and there comes a time where you can invent a word like this to be more concise, do you do it? You could also bring a word like forgivances back into favor.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

TLDR: Forgivances is cool, and I support Puppet using this word.
 

LilRora

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Depends on the word. If it's a relatively well-known one, I'll probably cut the adverb. If I have to invent a new or scarcely known word, I most likely won't use it. Might also change if I'm writing dialogue, cause the rules are a bit different there.
 
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Depends on the word. If it's a relatively well-known one, I'll probably cut the adverb. If I have to invent a new or scarcely known word, I most likely won't use it. Might also change if I'm writing dialogue, cause the rules are a bit different there.
For scarce words, I am an advocate of context clues. You can paint a picture for a reader and have them learn a word without a dictionary. But I don't do it every time. For example with the word trudge. You can easily use context with such a word.

I walked slowly to the couch and flopped down. I groaned and said, "I am so tired."

I trudged to the couch...


It's basically the same thing, but the reader can easily guess what trudge means. Though, the word is often used with mud.

She trudged through the mud.

I nudged my house's door open, and I (trudged) (dragged my feet) to the couch.


I am not saying one will be better, but I just find these things neat. In this case, trudge is good because it rhymes with nudge. Nudging and trudging are slow, but they can also be opposite. You can nudge something without much force, but trudging is exertion like you are exhausted. Trudging to me means heavy feet. Nudging feels like when you lightly push. It's a cool oxymoron.
 

Assurbanipal_II

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An Enteresting rabbit hole that Puppet has sent me down. She asked a question.

Google Search isn’t being helpful… so I thought I’d ask you. Is there a word for “things that have been forgiven”?

She ponders whether forgivances is a word. I look it up, and apparently it fell out of favor, but it was once a word (according to Oxford English Dictionary). Anyway, I thought of the word exonerations, and other words were brought up by @Sleds and @Assurbanipal_II respectively. Pardons, amnesties, condonations, clemencies, etc.

Anyway, this made me think of two word synonyms. At the base level you can use "forgiven deeds/actions/etc." I think about this stuff all the time when I am writing. I brought it up to a friend when using an easier example "walk slowly" vs "trudge" and other words like this. But isn't it easier when trying to cut adverbs? There always seems to be stronger verbs, but it seems much harder when you have a noun that's two words.

"Forgivances" only ends up a derivation of "forgive." I am kinda confusing myself writing this because I don't know much about this area of English. But my question is, if you are writing and there comes a time where you can invent a word like this to be more concise, do you do it? You could also bring a word like forgivances back into favor.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

TLDR: Forgivances is cool, and I support Puppet using this word.
Those are only terms describing the action itself, which isn't the issue. Dolly was asking a term describing the object of forgiveness as far as I understand, which isn't the same. :blob_cookie:
 

TheMonotonePuppet

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Bygones? Water under the bridge?
Hmmm... that is true. I forgot about that word and that phrase. It sounds like it fits, but I'm hesitant to be certain that it fits, ya know?

*Looks it up* "Bygones" has strong connections to earlier times, which means the word in of itself, when used outside of the phrase "let bygones be bygones", would not work perfectly.
"Water under the bridge" is a bit lengthy...

However! If I stopped being a picky pain in the butt, I think these are part of the current top three choices. The third being resurrecting "forgivances".
 

Sergeandgreen

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"clemencies" comes to mind or "exonerations" Both fit but don't fit at the same time.
But even if they fit, i wouldn't use them. They probably cause more confusion than help, and no one talks like that.
Amnesties falls into the same category.
 
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Gazzosa676

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Well, I am not having that problem with coming up with words that cut the use if adverbs (I am still too basic for that), but lately I am getting obsessed with words that are used for a specific thing that could be described with a more common name. Like, I am now writing a chapter that takes place on a ship and I am trying to use properly the names of the part of the ship. I wonder what awful nightmare will come out when I will have to translate it in English.
Anyway I like old words that are not so common anymore, even if they sound a bit weird. The important thing is that the word really exist and you are not crafting a neologism which people can't find anywhere on a dictionary.
 
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