Why is it termed as “pickpocketing” and not “pocketpicking”? 
@Cshearer41 @paulg
Probably because it's derived from "pickpocket," which is in turn an established, though uncommon, way of deriving English words. E.g. blatherskite, turncoat, killjoy, spoilsport, cutthroat.
-
-
Does this mean on some instances during development of English language, convention prevailed over strict logic like attaching “-ing” only to verb forms of a composite word?
- Show replies
New conversation -
-
-
Also more pleasant-soundinghttps://www.rd.com/article/ablaut-reduplication/ …
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
The etymology is explained best in this reddit threadhttps://www.reddit.com/r/etymology/comments/6d1l7n/why_tick_tock_sounds_correct_but_tock_tick_does/ …
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
New conversation
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.