McCarthy: door/doorway

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Marius Hancu - 30 Mar 2010 13:35 GMT

Hello:

Any sense on when to say "door" and when "doorway" in
"stood in the door/doorway?"

---
[Police offices]

Molly, he said.

She came and stood in the door.

Did you find anything on any of those vehicles yet?

Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men, p. 167
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 30 Mar 2010 14:08 GMT

>Hello:
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men, p. 167
>---

To me a doorway is the (usually) rectangular hole in a wall that is
filled by a closed door. Sometimes, however, door is used to mean
doorway as quoted above.

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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Lewis - 30 Mar 2010 14:16 GMT

> Hello:

> Any sense on when to say "door" and when "doorway" in
> "stood in the door/doorway?"

I'd say stood in the doorway. I reserver door for the actual object.

More of McCarthy's tersity?

Is that a word?

Terseness?

That looks better.

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I leave symbols to the symbol-minded - George Carlin

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Marius Hancu - 30 Mar 2010 14:29 GMT

> > Any sense on when to say "door" and when "doorway" in
> > "stood in the door/doorway?"
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> That looks better.

Many others are using both of them. At Google Books:

1,524 on "stood in the door"
8,990 on "stood in the doorway"

but at least the "right" one seems in majority.

Thank you both.
Marius Hancu

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Peter Duncanson (BrE) - 30 Mar 2010 15:08 GMT

>More of McCarthy's tersity?
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>That looks better.

Tersity is terser than terseness.

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Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

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James Hogg - 30 Mar 2010 15:12 GMT

>> More of McCarthy's tersity?
>>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Tersity is terser than terseness.

The OED is very terse indeed on the subject of the word "tersity".

I was amused to learn that "terse" originally meant "wiped"

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James

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Jeffrey Turner - 31 Mar 2010 02:23 GMT

> In message
> <7fe42052-f9f9-444e-8d00-44addfbbbc74@i25g2000yqm.googlegroups.com>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> That looks better.

Terspicacity.

--Jeff

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Love consists of overestimating
the differences between one woman
and another. --George Bernard Shaw

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / March 2010

McCarthy: door/doorway