h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just a linguistic matter. I think it's strange that while there is a direct antonym to hungry, which is... well, on consulting my dictionary, I see that there is no real antonym to "hungry" in English,( but in German for example, there is "satt")... however: there is no real signifiant for a very basic signifié (for those who like de Saussure), in other words, there is a gap in the lexicon. And I'm just wondering why.

I suppose that not being thirsty is not a problem, so there is no need for a word for it. You know what they say "Necessity is the mother of language." (or is that just me?)

Is the German "satt" from the same stem as the English "sated" and if so why, in German, is it still in use when, in English, it is seen as unnecessary? Why don't we still need it? Are we stunted in our use of the English language by over-exposure to American films and television? Or just lazy?

Well it's just not very catchy is it!

Well. I've just spent some entertaining time in the company of several dictionaries. "Satt" and "sated" are indeed derived from the same stem, which doesn't really come as a surprise, since this stem was Ancient Greek/Indoeuropean. If you go back this far, the chance that any two words are NOT related is rather not so high. However, "sated"/"satiated" has, for at least a few centuries, only been used in a derogative sense.
This should be enough etymology for one day. I qm now wondering if this gives us any new insights.
And as to the 'front of the knee'-business: I always had the impression that the front of the knee was called... 'the knee'.
Oder?

In german the opposite of "thirsty" (durstig) is "sitt".

This I will not believe until I hear it from the lips of somebody not working for the Lipton company

well, I guess the reason nobody in Germany will use the word "sitt" is just that you don't need it. I can understand that people will eat as much as they can, and then of course, they are "satt".

If you drink a lot (non alcoholic beverages) ... well, there is no defined state for that ..... if you drink too much you will feel all the water swishing about in your stomach, which is not a nice feeling at all, by the way . But why should you? To be refreshed/erfrischt is the only reason one has for drinking.

I find it more interesting that there is no word for "satt" in English. I remember when I was 14 and in an exchange programme in the States, the family took me to a KFC and after the meal asked me if I wanted some more ...... Do you know what I said? "No, thanks, I'm fed up." I had a hard time explaining that I did not mean to say this

Although I think it's a perfectly reasonable reply after a visit to KFC, and the question if you want some more seems to be rather of the rhetorical kind...

How about "drowning" ?

Are we talking about the opposite of thirsty in the same sense that dark is the opposite of light (ie. a lack of) "not thirsty" or are we after a definition that is a literal opposite (ie. a revulsion at the thought of another drink) in which case "too drunk" *being polite* or "bladdered" should do.....

i like quenched. though drunk works in some cases as well. and all this gibberish about your knee; it's called your knee. regardless of which area (anterior, posterior, lateral, medial, inferior, superior) it doesn't make a lick of difference, it's still you bloody knee.

>Do you know what I said? "No, thanks, I'm fed up."
In Australia the response would be "No thanks, I'm full up".

or "No thanks, I'm full as a goog(egg)"
or "No thanks, I'm full as a North Queensland cattle tick"


;^)#

Howzabout "Tarbender,le damáge," or "Blaaarghh?"

Howzabout "Tarbender,le Damáge," or "Blaaargghh?"
Thank you_
hartifartblast

Is the back of the knee the "Knee-pit" ?

I like that one with the cattle tick .... but still, it's probably not they answer they'd have expected to hear ....

You know, In Germany we very often say, even in a more or less polite conversation .... if I have another bite, I'm going to explode (ich platze gleich).

orally lubricated

Yes, according to Ally McBeal..

I quite like the idea of the knee pit. And it's not gibberish.
I think the nearest we can come to the opposite of thirsty is surfeit, which is also the opposite of hungry, sort of.