Is "reshaven" a real word? This is, apparently a matter of some academic interest, according to Alex.
I think "reshaven" is applicable in each of the following cases:
a) when the shaven area is not an area usually shaven. Example: if you shave your head, then the hair starts growing again, after some time you need to have it reshaven.
b) when the shaving does not occur at regular, predictable intervals. Example: "Bill's signature image is his big, bushy beard. A few years ago he surprised everyone by shaving it off. That was some kind of protest gesture on his part, I believe. He let the beard grow again after that incident. But, lo and behold, I saw Bill this morning and was scandalized - he had his beard reshaven again!"
c) when shaving is performed on a non-human mammal. Example: "A patch of hair was shaven on a group of rabbits and a new drug was tested on the bare skin. Every two weeks, the same patch was reshaven and the drug reapplied, for a total of six months of testing."
I can think of only two examples for which "reshaven" would not work. First is when shaving is happening in a very predictable manner, on a usual place, in usual people, i.e., men shaving their faces every day cannot be said to have their faces "reshaven" every day.
The second example is where another established term exists - a sheep is sheared one year and resheared the next year, not reshaven.
But, academic concerns aside, this issue (although I am not a son of a millworker) is very personal to me. I never shave every day - far too sensitive skin. I shave when I have to go out and meet people who are not my best friends forever. When I have no such social events planned, I rest my face for as long as I can stand it, e.g., during the winter break when everyone else is celebrating something except us.
But then, when it is time to get out of the house again and get oneself in the working mindset again, getting my face reshaven is the act that gets me going. And I have photographic evidence for it as well - this is a Before vs. After comparison - both pictures taken on the same day:
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a sheep is sheared one year and resheared the next year, not reshaven.
In New Zealand at least, and we ought to know, sheep are shorn not sheared (though I'm sure sheared is a perfectly valid word). I hear most farmers now shear twice a year but I don't know if the sheep that are the subject of this are said to be reshorn ;)
No, no -- Here's the scenario: You awake one morning bleary-eyed and groggy after fitful, restless sleep. You go into the bathroom and find that one of the light bulbs has burnt out, and you're out of hot water. Gamely, you attempt to shave anyway.
As you begin to wake up later in the morning, you realize that there are odd little patches of stubble left on your chin, your cheek, your neck. You need to reshave.
At lunchtime, you hurry home and head for the bathroom. You replace the burned-out bulb, and there's now plenty of hot water. After reshaving, you are now freshly reshaven.
Ah, but what happens if you don't have time to run home at lunch? You spend the rest of the day unreshaven and miserable.
David: Some dictionaries give shorn and sheared equal merit, perhaps suggesting that sheared is slowly replacing shorn (as regularization of irregular verbs is a common process for all but the most frequently used verbs).
HP: excellent example - something needs to be redone becaue it was not done well the first time around (it has happened to me).
Like "sheared" and "shorn", "shaved" is replacing "shaven" as the participle. The adjectives will doubtless linger, but I know a number of people who were startled to learn that "shaven" was the pariticple of "shave" - they knew it was related but they'd NEVER have said "I have shaven"... For them, "this is the priest all shaven and shorn" (we were analyzing recursivity as seen in The House That Jack Built) could be analyzed as "this is the priest; someone shaved and sheared him".
So - it "reshaven" a word? If it is, it's archaic. "Reshaved" is the current form.
as regularization of irregular verbs is a common process for all but the most frequently used verbs
Which might explain why shorn is near universal here - one of the few places on earth where sheep and shearing are a major part of the culture!
Good point!
Anyway, some have suggested on Alex's post that the word "reshaven" is a nonce verb, but I think it is the opposite: an old word that is on its gradual way out, being replaced by "reshaved". In a couple of decades, it will still be a legitinate word, but designated as "archaic or poetic".
Bora! (I just discovered this) Say it ain't so? Are you sure you haven't RESHAVED as opposed to being RESHAVEN? If you were an editor and some chap handed you an essay where the main character was "reshaven" wouldn't you just ... cringe?
Oh no! I'd love it and think it was poetic in a way.