Who thinks the LOTR books are better?

[Durin1]

Moot...schmoot... who cares?

Of course the books are infinitely superior... did the question have to be asked?

The movies aren't even "Great" movies in their own right, let alone in terms of being adapted from the book.

[BeardofPants]

Originally Posted by Halbarad of the Dunedain

Ah BoP, how you intrest me. your deffinition of moot is only the deffinition of the word as a transitive verb, i was usuing it in the sense of a noun which is defined as somewhat obsolete, or in this case a moot point is one that is one that really doesn't need to be asked, made, or answered.

Hmmm. A bit of educating is in order, I see...

Q] From Nancy Maclaine: “Did the phrase a moot point originally mean ‘a debatable point’? Nowadays it seems to mean ‘an irrelevant point’ or even ‘a point so irrelevant it’s not worth debating’. Some actually have taken to referring to it as a mute point. What’s the history here?”


[A] Moot point is one of those phrases that once had a firm and well-understood meaning, but no longer does. It was just as you say: a matter that was uncertain or undecided, so open to debate.


It comes from the same source as meet and originally had the same meaning. In England in medieval times it referred specifically to an assembly of people, in particular one that had some sort of judicial function, and was often spelled mot or mote. So you find references to the witenagemot (the assembly of the witan, the national council of Anglo-Saxon times), hundred-mote (where a hundred was an Anglo-Saxon administrative area, part of a county or shire), and many others. So something that was mooted was put up for discussion and decision at a meeting—by definition something not yet decided.


The confusion over the meaning of moot point is modern. It is a misunderstanding of another sense of moot for a discussion forum in which hypothetical cases are argued by law students for practice. Since there is no practical outcome of these sessions, and the cases are invented anyway, people seem to have assumed that a moot point means one of no importance. So we’ve seen a curious shift in which the sense of “open to debate” has become “not worth debating”.


The mute spelling is a development that has come about because moot is now a fossil word, usually encountered only in this phrase; there is an understandable tendency to convert the unknown into the known, and mute seems to fit the new meaning rather better. But it’s wrong.

from here.

Now, as I was saying... perhaps one of the most ill-used words, eh?

[Minielin]

Originally Posted by BeardofPants

Now, as I was saying... perhaps one of the most ill-used words, eh?

It would seem so.

[Halbarad of the Dunedain]

Your little lesson is quite well conceived BoP, however you are quite far off course. You might wanna pull over and ask for directions... Moot Point is far from the same as Moot on it's own. The phrase Moot Point does not share the same meaning as Moot, or meeting. You will not find the deffinition as easily as those oh so well conceived ones for Moot itself, as Moot Point is two words with Point being an altering word creating a new meaning.

Moot on its own can be used as a suffix using its originated deffinition as meeting, i.e. Entmoot. It is not a fossil word and still has value and meaning as it once did. The misunderstanding is that Moot Point is not Moot. Understand?

[BeardofPants]

Originally Posted by Halbarad of the Dunedain

This thread is kind of a... moot point...

Originally Posted by Halbarad of the Dunedain

...is defined as somewhat obsolete, or in this case a moot point is one that is one that really doesn't need to be asked, made, or answered.

Originally Posted by "History Lesson" provided by BoP

Moot point is one of those phrases that once had a firm and well-understood meaning, but no longer does. It was just as you say: a matter that was uncertain or undecided, so open to debate.

The confusion over the meaning of moot point is modern. It is a misunderstanding of another sense of moot for a discussion forum in which hypothetical cases are argued by law students for practice. Since there is no practical outcome of these sessions, and the cases are invented anyway, people seem to have assumed that a moot point means one of no importance. So we’ve seen a curious shift in which the sense of “open to debate” has become “not worth debating”.

Originally Posted by Halbarad of the Dunedain

Moot Point is far from the same as Moot on it's own. ....

Originally Posted by Definition provided by BoP

moot·ed, moot·ing, moots
To bring up as a subject for discussion or debate.

To discuss or debate.

Usage Note: The adjective moot is originally a legal term going back to the mid-16th century. It derives from the noun moot, in its sense of a hypothetical case argued as an exercise by law students. Consequently, a moot question is one that is arguable or open to debate. But in the mid-19th century people also began to look at the hypothetical side of moot as its essential meaning, and they started to use the word to mean “of no significance or relevance.” Thus, a moot point, however debatable, is one that has no practical value. A number of critics have objected to this use, but 59 percent of the Usage Panel accepts it in the sentence The nominee himself chastised the White House for failing to do more to support him, but his concerns became moot when a number of Republicans announced that they, too, would oppose the nomination. When using moot one should be sure that the context makes clear which sense is meant.

Moot Definition

Originally Posted by Definition provided by BoP

moot point

A debatable question, an issue open to argument; also, an irrelevant question, a matter of no importance. For example, Whether Shakespeare actually wrote the poem remains a moot point among critics, or It's a moot point whether the chicken or the egg came first. This term originated in British law where it described a point for discussion in a moot, or assembly, of law students. By the early 1700s it was being used more loosely in the present sense.

Moot Point Definition

[brownjenkins]

smartypants

[Earniel]

You lot want me to split off your discussion of the word 'moot'?

[BeardofPants]

Depends - you gonna provide a definition for that.

Okay, okay, point taken. We can get back onto this very moot-able topic now.

[Rosie Gamgee]

Originally Posted by me9996

Whoever thinks LOTR is better as a book say so here

ME! *shouted at the top of my lungs so that there is NO doubt in anyone's mind within a 35-mile radius*

[inked]

BOOKS!

...an unmootable assertion in the original sense!

... a moot point in the modern sense as per HotD: "This thread is kind of a... moot point... no pun intended, of course the Books are better than the films! No film, no song, no musical, nothing will ever match what Proffesor Tolkien has given us. The Lord of the Rings and all of Tolkiens other writings are a masterpiece! If you need any more proof the books are better than the films I have one word for you... Halbarad! Halbarad of the Dunedain was NOT in the films!!! How can the films match the power of a book that has Halbarad in it!?"

Do I get extra credit for involving both senses correctly attributed in answer?

[BeardofPants]

No, but you do get a smack on the upside of the head, and a token de-pantsing.

[inked]

given my views on the philogy professor's sense of humour, shouldn't that be
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a "Tolkien" depantsing?

[BeardofPants]

Nope, nope, and nope. The LAST thing I want to think about is the good professor's wrinkly white butt!

[Last Child of Ungoliant]

you know, the phrase regarding a redundant arguement isnt a moot point, it is actually a 'mute point', ie: without sound, hence no arguement

[inked]

this is where PROPER ENUNCIATION helps to mUte the point about mooooots!

[BeardofPants]

Originally Posted by Last Child of Ungoliant

you know, the phrase regarding a redundant arguement isnt a moot point, it is actually a 'mute point', ie: without sound, hence no arguement

Uh, chrys.... Check out this post. "Mute" is wrong as well.

And now, let's mute about the moot!

This topic is rather... redundant... on a Tolkien board, would we not say?

[azalea]

I'd say it's rather predictable. But as usual, the spinoff discussion was quite entertaining.

[me9996]

Originally Posted by azalea

I'd say it's rather predictable. But as usual, the spinoff discussion was quite entertaining.

True

[Lenya]

Du. How could you even ask? Books are always better! They're just not so limited as movies.

[me9996]

Originally Posted by Lenya

Du. How could you even ask? Books are always better! They're just not so limited as movies.

How true

(braceing for 90 second rule...)

P.S.
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

The 90 second rule strikes again!