Talk:for-

Example "Fordo" possibly miscategorized
I'm not learned enough to make changes myself here, but I wonder if the word /fordo/ has been associated with the correct sense of the prefix.

Fordo is associated in the article with the sense of "'completely', 'to the fullest extent'"; yet usage and the closest Germanic cognates seem to indicate that it's an example of /for-/ in its sense of "'far', 'away'; 'from', 'out'". En. /fordo/ and Du. /verdoen/ both can mean "to kill" or "to do away with", not "to do up" or "to do completely". I admit that there is some semantic overlap: Expressions like "You're finished," and "You're done for," carry senses of both completeness and "away-ness", so to speak, because, obviously, doing away with something also finishes it, and carries it to its fullest extent (i.e., as far as that one will ever go). Still, we recognize that these really are two legitimately distinguished senses, and I would like to suggest that a more qualified editor than I, if she or he agrees, change the association of the example fordo.

Jdcrutch (talk) 15:10, 18 October 2012 (UTC)