Make Your Point > Archived Issues > HEMI-DEMI-SEMI
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pronounce
HEMI-DEMI-SEMI:
Say it "HEM ee dem ee SEM ee."
Or, if you prefer, "HEM uh dem uh SEM uh."
To hear it, click here.
connect this word to others:
Our hilarious term hemi-demi-semi, meaning "a teeny tiny bit of," joins the short list of Latin prefixes we've studied:
1. qu___, meaning "nearly: almost, in-effect, virtually, or sort-of;"
2. pl______, meaning "ultra, mega, extra, beyond, or super-duper."
Hemi-demi-semi also joins the short list of rhyming hyphenations we've studied:
1. __o_e-_ou_ed, meaning "done with 100% of your enthusiasm or devotion;"
2. _o_e-_-_o_e, meaning "a game or a strategy where you let your opponents wear themselves out by attacking you again and again in a tiring, ineffective way."
Can you recall all those terms with blanks?
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
definition:
When you think of words like "hemisphere," "demigod," and "semicircle," you notice that all three of those underlined prefixes mean "half." (A hemisphere is half a sphere, a demigod is a half-god, and a semicircle is a half-circle.)
Less literally, those prefixes can mean "almost," "sort of," or "not quite the real thing." For example, if you're semi-excited for an upcoming party, you're not exactly bouncing up and down with anticipation.
Now, and I promise this is relevant, check out the British names for musical notes:
As you move down the list, each note lasts for half as long as the one above it:
---That first note, the semibreve (called a whole note here in the US) lasts for 4 beats.
---The minum (half note) lasts for 2 beats.
---The crotchet (quarter note) lasts for 1 beat.
---The quaver (eighth note) lasts for half a beat.
---The semiquaver, meaning "half-quaver" (sixteenth note) lasts for a quarter of a beat.
---The demisemiquaver, meaning "half-half-quaver" (thirty-second note) lasts for an eighth of a beat.
---And finally, the hemidemisemiquaver, meaning "half-half-half-quaver" (sixty-fourth note) lasts for a sixteenth of a beat.
That hemidemisemiquaver is a very tiny, very fast note.
Now, possibly because the word "hemidemisemiquaver" is fun and ridiculous, the prefix alone, "hemi-demi-semi," is a fun way to say "itty-bitty," "kinda-sorta-not-really," or "teeny-tiny-bit."
grammatical bits:
Part of speech:
You can use it as a prefix, tacking it straight onto a noun, as in "hemi-demi-semi-tone," or straight onto an adjective, as in "hemi-demi-semi-helpful."
And, you can use it as an adjective (right before a noun), as in "hemi-demi-semi hiatus."
And, you can use it as an adverb (right before an adjective), as in "hemi-demi-semi happy."
Other forms:
Some people prefer to leave out the hyphens: "hemidemisemi."
And some people prefer to switch up the order: "hemi-semi-demi." Why not?
In fact, feel free to get playful with your own alternate forms. Here's Lin Manuel-Miranda with some lyrics for the movie Moana: "You little semi-demi-mini-god."
how to use it:
This term is very rare, very scholarly, and very silly. Enjoy!
If you're already using a term that starts with "hemi," "demi," or "semi," you can get playful and throw in "hemi-demi-semi," or some variant of it. We saw this playfulness in Manuel-Miranda's example above ("semi-demi-mini-god"), and we'll see it again in the first example below ("hemi-semi-demi monde"). When you do this, you're taking a concept that's already weakened--not a "god" but just a "demigod;" not a "monde" but just a "demimonde"--and weakening it further. "Well, you asked us to form a semicircle on the dance floor, and we did manage to form a hemi-demi-semi-circle."
examples:
"George Frazier was a mid-20th century columnist for several Boston newspapers... He was a working-class kid who aspired to infuse Boston jazz's hemi-semi-demi monde with his Ivy-League-tinged bonhomie."
— Steve Provizer, Brilliant Corners, 29 November 2010
"I’m declaring the rest of August to be a Hemi-Demi-Semi Hiatus month. I'm gonna take a step back for some introspection and reorganization."
— John Scalzi, Whatever, 6 August 2018
has this page helped you understand "hemi-demi-semi"?
study it:
Explain the meaning of "hemi-demi-semi" without saying "itsy-bitsy bit" or "very small version of."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "It's not so much a (thing) as it is a hemi-demi-semi-(thing)."
Example: "It's not so much a bikini as it is a hemi-demi-semi-kini."
before you review, play:
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
Our game for this month is MYP Wordles!
You're likely familiar with the popular new game Wordle, created by Josh Wardle and recently purchased by the New York Times. You can play the real Wordle each day here.
It's fun, simple, and addictive. You try to guess the five-letter word. Each time you guess, you see how close you are: a green box means you've gotten the right letter in the right spot; a yellow box means you've gotten a letter that's in the word but in the wrong spot; a gray box means you've guessed a letter that isn't in the word at all.
There's only one real Wordle every day. But luckily for us, the good folks at StriveMath.com have created a copycat Wordle tool, so you can play as many Wordles as you want, and even create and share your own.
So, in each issue this month, try the MYP Wordle linked below. The answer will be a word we've studied. I'll give a series of hints that you can reveal if you choose to. If you can't figure out the answer, you can let the puzzle reveal it, or you can scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Click here to play today's MYP Wordle.
If you need some hints, highlight the hidden white text below.
The letter it starts with is… W
The vowels it includes are… I and E
The part of speech is… verb
The definition is… to dry up, to shrivel up, or to wither
review this word:
A. ITTY-BITTY.
B. ULTRA-UBER-MEGA.
C. CONTRA-CONTRA-CONTRA.
2.
In Texas Monthly, David Courtney argued that it's "semi-hemi-demi-legitimate" for Whataburger to call itself a family-owned company, since the family members _____ of the company.
A. maintain full ownership
B. retain a small portion of their ownership
C. have long since relinquished any ownership
a final word:
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From my blog:
On vocabulary...
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.
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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Our hilarious term hemi-demi-semi, meaning "a teeny tiny bit of," joins the short list of Latin prefixes we've studied:
When you think of words like "hemisphere," "demigod," and "semicircle," you notice that all three of those underlined prefixes mean "half." (A hemisphere is half a sphere, a demigod is a half-god, and a semicircle is a half-circle.)
As you move down the list, each note lasts for half as long as the one above it:
Part of speech:
This term is very rare, very scholarly, and very silly. Enjoy!
"George Frazier was a mid-20th century columnist for several Boston newspapers... He was a working-class kid who aspired to infuse Boston jazz's hemi-semi-demi monde with his Ivy-League-tinged bonhomie."
Explain the meaning of "hemi-demi-semi" without saying "itsy-bitsy bit" or "very small version of."
Fill in the blanks: "It's not so much a (thing) as it is a hemi-demi-semi-(thing)."
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |