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Twisted

Posted by Henry on January 12, 2005

In Reply to: Torquedness/Torqueness? posted by mugball-us on January 12, 2005

: : A tightly-wound individual has been dubbed "His Torqueness". I think that should be "His Torquedness". We googled 703 hits for torqueness vs. only 9 hits for torquedness, but I stubbornly refuse to conceed defeat as yet. Would anyone care to adjudicate the debate?

: You must be right because Torqueness is a headland on the Devon coast (or should be).

Each is just an play on words, based on His Highness. As such, they are not bound by the rules of grammar and you can decide your own preference. Perhaps you feel an attraction to torquedness because of its similarity to words like awkwardness and wickedness.

Torque is a noun, although its sense has been extended to a verb. 'Ness' is a suffix added to adjectives to make a noun. Therefore, both variations are irregular and redundant.

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