Unlike gubbins, forensicating has yet to make it into OED (source askoxford). It was most recently spotted in a press conference given by Assistant Chief Constable Adrian Leppard (left)earlier this week. Thinking it must be an Americanism, I searched Merriam Webster online but drew a blank there too.
I did find a reference to it on Hansard (15 Oct 2003 : Column 958; Lord Carlile of Berriew) so it must be real, mustn't it?
1 comment:
Well now I never knew this, but apparently the word root is "From Latin forēnsis, public, of a forum, from forum, forum".
Forensic science then is public science, or the act of using science to make something known, public. Apparently its not a noun but an adjective, ie, presumably, already a modified noun - forum-ish
Technically then I guess forensicating could be used, although perhaps the more proper term would be forensing? You are right that its predominantly the US language that first takes nouns and twists them with ization, izing etc. Like the difference between a concretion and a concretization.
Curious.
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