Comments on: Canny/Uncanny http://www.word-detective.com/2009/01/cannyuncanny/ Semper Ubi Sub Ubi Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:32:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Maja http://www.word-detective.com/2009/01/cannyuncanny/comment-page-1/#comment-26635 Maja Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:53:33 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/2008/05/30/cannyuncanny/#comment-26635 Makes perfect sense, too. Maybe even more. Makes perfect sense, too. Maybe even more.

]]> By: NHGranite http://www.word-detective.com/2009/01/cannyuncanny/comment-page-1/#comment-17625 NHGranite Sat, 07 May 2011 20:03:16 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/2008/05/30/cannyuncanny/#comment-17625 I am going to venture another guess here. My grandmother was Scottish, and grew up in Blackburn, Lancashire, so more than one dialect was in her speech. If "canny" is knowing, and I think it is taken from "ken", as in it's beyond my ken, then to me "uncanny" is unknown or beyond knowing. Something weird means we don't known how it originates or how it works, or uncanny - as in How did you do that? oooh witchcraft, we don't know, unknown, uncanny. Spooky. I am going to venture another guess here. My grandmother was Scottish, and grew up in Blackburn, Lancashire, so more than one dialect was in her speech.

If “canny” is knowing, and I think it is taken from “ken”, as in it’s beyond my ken, then to me “uncanny” is unknown or beyond knowing. Something weird means we don’t known how it originates or how it works, or uncanny – as in How did you do that? oooh witchcraft, we don’t know, unknown, uncanny. Spooky.

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