Talk:frank
- Note: the below discussion was moved from the Wiktionary:Tea room.
I came across an interesting noun use of the word (deprecated template usage) frank I hadn't heard before, from William F. Buckley, Jr.. Frankly, I wasn't surprised, as he is known for use of uncommon words. :-P
- "This isn't to say that the [Iraq] war is wrong, or that history will judge it to be wrong. But it is absolutely to say that conservatism implies a certain submission to reality; and this war has an unrealistic frank and is being conscripted by events." [1]
Is this just a metaphorical extension of the noun sense "postage mark indicating free passage", or is it another necessary sense? Has anyone heard frank used this way, more generally as something like "permission to proceed; mandate"? Or on second thought, does his use of the word here mean something more like "reality; state; outlook" -- Thisis0 19:09, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
- Hazarding a guess: "frank" in the sense of "exemption from the usual charge by reason of the position/authority of the sender"; "conscripted" in the sense of "limited", "circumscribed". See various senses of the verb "frank" (not necessarily in Wiktionary) that emphasize the idea of exemption. From the context, he might be saying that the notion that the states of the Middle East would become democratic as a result of our intervention (the "frank") was unrealistic and, possibly, that the war cannot be prosecuted to a succesful conclusion because of political factors limiting public support (the "conscription"). He may not have wanted to be more, er, direct in criticism. DCDuring TALK 19:48, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
- Wow, now that you pointed it out, the extended use of 'conscripted' is also ultra-oblique and esoteric. Honestly at this point I have no idea how he is using those two words (frank and conscripted). Any people who get this? -- Thisis0 20:02, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
Different etymology for English frank
[edit]Are we sure the adjective isn't cognate to Dutch wrang, from Middle Dutch wranc, from Old Dutch *wrang, from Proto-Germanic *wrangaz? (Possibly as a Dutch or Low Saxon loan)
Etymology 4: Pigsty
[edit]Etymology 4 could do with a little explanation. I cannot see a clear link from Old French "franc" to an English word meaning "pigsty". —DIV (1.129.104.211 11:40, 4 February 2021 (UTC))