lack of back formation

[fox]

why is it, do you suppose, that nobody (as far as i know) uses, even jokingly, the word *stickle -- meaning what it is sticklers do? people can be sticklers about a variety of different things, after all, but there's no verb related to this clearly nominal form; i wonder why speakers seem not to think of that -er as the agentive suffix (whether it is or not) and thus consider the noun to be derived from the verb, and thus go ahead and coin the verb to fill that slot. i know the way to split it is more likely to be stick + ler than stickl(e) + er, but we have "but(t)le," don't we, for what a butler does?

x-posted to philologist.

[ETA:

well, i'll be damned.

One entry found for stickle.

Main Entry: stick·le
Pronunciation: 'sti-k&l
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): stick·led; stick·ling /-k(&-)li[ng]/
Etymology: alteration of Middle English stightlen, frequentative of stighten to arrange, from Old English stihtan; akin to Old Norse stEtta to found, support
1 : to contend especially stubbornly and usually on insufficient grounds
2 : to feel scruples : SCRUPLE]

Comments

[king-chiron.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try and weave it into a conversation this week, I can just imagine the confused look on the recipient's face though.