Jasper and I was chatting on IM and regarding how I’m busy at doing nothing he said:
“I envy your busyness“
The word seemed odd to both of us. And immediately afterwards, he started to wonder whether it’s busyness or simply business. Jasper then decided to look it up on online dictionary and found busyness in the derivatives section of they entry busy.
In everyday English we’re used to adding the suffix -ness to an adjective to convey “the state of being (adjective)”. However, an adjective spelled with a “y” at the end and end with open coda /i:/ we replace the “y” with an “i”. For example, silly or tidy become silliness and tidiness, respectively. All is well, until you factor in how business, coming from busy, is strongly associated with other meanings more common than simply describing the state of being busy.
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