Tmesis is the practice of dividing a word or phrase and inserting another word in between, adding emphasis or clarifying the sentence. It can be seen in phrasal verbs and infixes, often used for comic impact. In Australian English, it is known as “tumbarumba”.
The term “tmesis” describes the practice of dividing a word or phrase into two parts and placing another word in between. The term comes from a Greek root meaning “to cut” and describes the separation of the two parts of the word or phrase. In tmesis, the inserted word modifies the original, adding emphasis or clarifying the sentence.
In English, one of the most common forms of tmesis involves phrasal verbs. A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and a preposition that gives the verb a whole new meaning: “throw” and “vomit”, for example, have completely different meanings, as do “turn” and “turn off”. A word can be inserted in the middle of a phrasal verb and still allow it to keep its meaning, as in the case of “turn off”. “Turn off the radio” retains the meaning of that phrasal verb. With some phrasal verbs, this type of tmesis is optional – “turn off the radio” and “turn off the radio” mean the same thing – but in other cases it is required. For example, “go and shut up Steve” makes sense in English, while “go and shut up Steve” has an ambiguous meaning.
Another form of English tmesis is inserting a modifier, called an infix, in the middle of a word. Examples of this type of usage are often expletives used to emphasize the original word or to give it comic impact. For example, in British or Australian English, “absolutely” can become “abso-bloody-lutely” if further emphasis is needed, while American usages include “guaran-damn-tee” and other less repeatable ones. In some cases, the exact meaning of the insertion may be unclear, as in old-fashioned rustic Americanism. This type of term can also serve to give the word a somewhat absurd emphasis, as it does for a character in the American television series The Simpsons; an irritating neighbor, Ned Flanders, inserts “diddly” into words, creating compounds like “hi-diddly-ho” or “scrum-diddly-icious.”
Tmesis is a common feature in Australian English, where it is sometimes known as “tumbarumba”. Tumbarumba is the name of a small town in New South Wales. The use of “tumbarumba” to describe tmesis may derive from Australian humorist John O’Grady, who mocked the practice of inserting “bloody” into sentences wherever possible in his poem “The Integrated Adjective”. The poem includes lines like “I’ve got forty-seven bloody, and that’s good it’s-bloody-nothing” and ends with the line “up a Tumba-bloody-rumba, shootin’ kanga-bloody-roos”.
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