<p>ANADEW means "a natlang already did it even worse" or "a natlang already did it, except worse". In essence you thought of a strange feature for your conlang, but there is actually a natlang that has that (or a very similar) feature and did it worse than it is in your conlang.<br>
If, for example, Pythagoras had made a click conlang (which somehow survived one or two millenia) with simple and easy clicks, then the "discovery" of the Khoisan languages with very complex click systems (worse for Europeans) would have made an ANADEW case.<br>
I don't think that's the best possible example, you can find a few more at <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/6yxo6k/anadew_game/" rel="noreferrer">https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/6yxo6k/anadew_game/</a> .</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-06T07:15:17.497Z
"Worse" being entirely subjective of course.
curiousdannii
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-05T16:26:18.657Z
2018-10-05T16:26:18.657Z
Cecilia
<p>The acronym ANADEW is quite popular among conlang enthusiats, but what does it mean?</p>

<p>For an answer, I'd like to see not only an expansion of the acronym, but also some good usage examples.</p>

<terminology>
What is the meaning of ANADEW?
# What is the meaning of ANADEW?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-05)

The acronym ANADEW is quite popular among conlang enthusiats, but what does it mean?

For an answer, I'd like to see not only an expansion of the acronym, but also some good usage examples.

**Tags:** terminology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-10-05. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

ANADEW means "a natlang already did it even worse" or "a natlang already did it, except worse". In essence you thought of a strange feature for your conlang, but there is actually a natlang that has that (or a very similar) feature and did it worse than it is in your conlang.  
If, for example, Pythagoras had made a click conlang (which somehow survived one or two millenia) with simple and easy clicks, then the "discovery" of the Khoisan languages with very complex click systems (worse for Europeans) would have made an ANADEW case.  
I don't think that's the best possible example, you can find a few more at <https://www.reddit.com/r/conlangs/comments/6yxo6k/anadew_game/> .

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: "Worse" being entirely subjective of course.  

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