I like to stem
- Joseph Krol
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I like to stem
I know many people think stemming is useless, but which stem roots come up most often and are presumably the best to learn? Also, does anyone know of a way of testing your stems? I attempted to learn the entire RETAINS + ? + ? this morning and most are pretty hazy.
- Ben Hunter
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Re: I like to stem
I use this method to learn and retain new words.
- Charlie Reams
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- Kai Laddiman
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Re: I like to stem
That reminded me of the Irregular Plurals page. A few other irregular plurals I've noticed that aren't there are AMBON - AMBONES, TELAMON - TELAMONES, NOPAL - NOPALES etc.Charlie Reams wrote:http://wiki.apterous.org/Fruitful_7s
Actually I suppose generating a list of those would be really hard.
16/10/2007 - Episode 4460
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
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Re: I like to stem
I'm not into apterous, and I don't know much of the background to this, but is it really much help to know you can add any vowel to RETAINS? I once had a bash at the dictionary listing and fairly quickly found about a hundred nine letter words containing those seven letters. Is ANTISERA so vital when you've probably got ABSTAINER, ASCERTAIN, STERADIAN . . .?Charlie Reams wrote:http://wiki.apterous.org/Fruitful_7s
- Martin Bishop
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Re: I like to stem
Yes it is. RETAINS+E was on the show quite recently and I wouldn't have got it without having learnt the stem. I've also found the CANTERS and HASTIER stems pretty useful. I don't learn many stems, but the fruitful 7s are particularly good, as during a round you can know for a fact that the stem you're trying to recall does actually exist.David Williams wrote:I'm not into apterous, and I don't know much of the background to this, but is it really much help to know you can add any vowel to RETAINS? I once had a bash at the dictionary listing and fairly quickly found about a hundred nine letter words containing those seven letters. Is ANTISERA so vital when you've probably got ABSTAINER, ASCERTAIN, STERADIAN . . .?Charlie Reams wrote:http://wiki.apterous.org/Fruitful_7s
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Re: I like to stem
Presumably the other letter was useless. In general TRAINEES is unlikely to be the only eight, and chances are there is a nine - NECTARIES, RESINATED, RESEATING, TREENAILS etc. I take the point about it being easier to drag a word from the back of your mind if you know there is one. That happens to me a lot, and I don't even know stems! I think every time IDOLATERS has come up I've got one of the eights first, and then remembered the combination.Martin Bishop wrote:RETAINS+E was on the show quite recently and I wouldn't have got it without having learnt the stem. I've also found the CANTERS and HASTIER stems pretty useful. I don't learn many stems, but the fruitful 7s are particularly good, as during a round you can know for a fact that the stem you're trying to recall does actually exist.
- Martin Bishop
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Re: I like to stem
You're assuming I can be bothered to learn all 12 stems from TRAINEES/RESINATE.David Williams wrote:Presumably the other letter was useless. In general TRAINEES is unlikely to be the only eight, and chances are there is a nine - NECTARIES, RESINATED, RESEATING, TREENAILS etc. I take the point about it being easier to drag a word from the back of your mind if you know there is one. That happens to me a lot, and I don't even know stems! I think every time IDOLATERS has come up I've got one of the eights first, and then remembered the combination.Martin Bishop wrote:RETAINS+E was on the show quite recently and I wouldn't have got it without having learnt the stem. I've also found the CANTERS and HASTIER stems pretty useful. I don't learn many stems, but the fruitful 7s are particularly good, as during a round you can know for a fact that the stem you're trying to recall does actually exist.
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Re: I like to stem
I don't know you David but you sound like a grumpy old man.
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Re: I like to stem
I don't know you either, but you're a fine judge of character. And I wasn't even trying to be grumpy this time. I'm genuinely interested in what would be the most productive way to study, and I would have thought the effort to remember all the words containing RETAINS would be among the more likely ways to gain an advantage.Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't know you David but you sound like a grumpy old man.
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Re: I like to stem
You must be right. Probability wise they are the most likely letters to emerge. Personally, I love using stems and would advocate their use for any aspiring player. This idea got shot down by players like Corby and Reams but those losers never won a series so I'd take their advice with a pinch of salt.David Williams wrote:I don't know you either, but you're a fine judge of character. And I wasn't even trying to be grumpy this time. I'm genuinely interested in what would be the most productive way to study, and I would have thought the effort to remember all the words containing RETAINS would be among the more likely ways to gain an advantage.Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't know you David but you sound like a grumpy old man.
- Jon O'Neill
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Re: I like to stem
Amazing.David O'Donnell wrote:You must be right. Probability wise they are the most likely letters to emerge. Personally, I love using stems and would advocate their use for any aspiring player. This idea got shot down by players like Corby and Reams but those losers never won a series so I'd take their advice with a pinch of salt.David Williams wrote:I don't know you either, but you're a fine judge of character. And I wasn't even trying to be grumpy this time. I'm genuinely interested in what would be the most productive way to study, and I would have thought the effort to remember all the words containing RETAINS would be among the more likely ways to gain an advantage.Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't know you David but you sound like a grumpy old man.
Re: I like to stem
I don't think I've ever out-and-out shot them down, I just wouldn't advise it as a particularly good way to 'train' unless you're already at a certain level. Didn't this conversation come up in Sudbery's thread? She spent time learning stems, when a few of us told her just to improve her all-round spotting by playing lots of rounds. Some of her stem practise came up in her game, but she missed them, I would guess because her ability to spot the root word wasn't up to scratch. That's the kind of thing I'm getting at.David O'Donnell wrote:You must be right. Probability wise they are the most likely letters to emerge. Personally, I love using stems and would advocate their use for any aspiring player. This idea got shot down by players like Corby and Reams but those losers never won a series so I'd take their advice with a pinch of salt.David Williams wrote:I don't know you either, but you're a fine judge of character. And I wasn't even trying to be grumpy this time. I'm genuinely interested in what would be the most productive way to study, and I would have thought the effort to remember all the words containing RETAINS would be among the more likely ways to gain an advantage.Ryan Taylor wrote:I don't know you David but you sound like a grumpy old man.
I do like some stems, where it completely changes the word to the extent you almost have to double-check that it's true. I can't think of an example off the top of my head though.
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Re: I like to stem
GUITARS+S = SASTRUGI always surprises me, and has won me a few rounds where I would definitely have been stuck on 7 otherwise.
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Re: I like to stem
Playing is obviously a lot more interesting than learning lists, but just how often does a word like SASTRUGI come up? Compare that to the number of times RETAINS appears, and the confidence of knowing that you are word-perfect. SNGUEATRI - no problem!
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4097
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4097
Re: I like to stem
Haha. I had actually looked at ANGRIEST prior to this show as it is very stem-rich (for some reason I also got fixated on SCENARIO), and SIGNATURE is a good example of an 'unlikely looking' stem IMO. Got more and more flustered when I couldn't even see an 8 I knew was there (was toying with RANGIEST and GRANITES but decided to play safe) to even begin looking for a 9.David Williams wrote:Playing is obviously a lot more interesting than learning lists, but just how often does a word like SASTRUGI come up? Compare that to the number of times RETAINS appears, and the confidence of knowing that you are word-perfect. SNGUEATRI - no problem!
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4097
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Re: I like to stem
Yeah I'll go with that excuse tooJon Corby wrote:Haha. I had actually looked at ANGRIEST prior to this show as it is very stem-rich (for some reason I also got fixated on SCENARIO), and SIGNATURE is a good example of an 'unlikely looking' stem IMO. Got more and more flustered when I couldn't even see an 8 I knew was there (was toying with RANGIEST and GRANITES but decided to play safe) to even begin looking for a 9.David Williams wrote:Playing is obviously a lot more interesting than learning lists, but just how often does a word like SASTRUGI come up? Compare that to the number of times RETAINS appears, and the confidence of knowing that you are word-perfect. SNGUEATRI - no problem!
http://wiki.apterous.org/Episode_4097
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Re: I like to stem
I rest my case!
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Re: I like to stem
Briefcase I bet. You seem the type.David Williams wrote:I rest my case!
- Kirk Bevins
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Re: I like to stem
You mean AMBO, not AMBON. Anyway stems are OK but I only use them nowadays to learn hard words, like as Charlie says GUITARS + S = SASTRUGI, because it gives me that needed edge over my opponent. Words like TARNISHED should be spotted easily without learning stems. Funny thing is, I can only spot GARBA by doing GRAB + A.Kai Laddiman wrote:That reminded me of the Irregular Plurals page. A few other irregular plurals I've noticed that aren't there are AMBON - AMBONES, TELAMON - TELAMONES, NOPAL - NOPALES etc.Charlie Reams wrote:http://wiki.apterous.org/Fruitful_7s
Actually I suppose generating a list of those would be really hard.
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Re: I like to stem
I don't know you Ryan but you sound like a grumpy young man.Ryan Taylor wrote:Briefcase I bet. You seem the type.David Williams wrote:I rest my case!
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Re: I like to stem
I don't know you either, but you're a fine judge of character. And I wasn't even trying to be grumpy this time.David Williams wrote:I don't know you Ryan but you sound like a grumpy young man.Ryan Taylor wrote:Briefcase I bet. You seem the type.David Williams wrote:I rest my case!
- Charlie Reams
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Re: I like to stem
Get a room you two.
Re: I like to stem
Hahaha.Kirk Bevins wrote:Funny thing is, I can only spot GARBA by doing GRAB + A.
- Matt Morrison
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Re: I like to stem
They'd just sit in opposing corners glaring at each other. Naked.Charlie Reams wrote:Get a room you two.