“A great many people think that polysyllables are a sign of intelligence.”
We all slept in this morning. It was nearly ten before I woke up, and my moving around rousted Fern and Gracie sleeping beside me on the bed. They got their morning treats then we all came downstairs together. As I was going to the door to let Miss Grace out, I found a gift in the hall: a dead mouse. One of the cats had had quite a busy night. I disposed of the deceased, put the coffee on and went to the driveway to get my papers; hence, the lateness of my posting.
It is a cloudy, still day with the sort of humidity which carries a bit of a chill. Rain is forecasted for this evening so I figure the day will stay much like this morning. I don’t expect the sun.
The paper had a great column the other day about the misuse of words and the word literally took front and center. I understood exactly what the author meant as I hear it literally all the time (just kidding). The article also mentioned the misuse or overuse of words. Two examples stood out for me: moot and iconic. It’s a moot point is used to stop any further discussion or argument. It’s been said to me, and it drives me crazy, literally. In that context moot means still open to discussion, but somehow that meaning has been lost. I once had an argument, debate?, with someone about him using the words “a moot point” incorrectly, but I lost. The argument was moot.
Iconic was discussed next and described as one of the latest, trendy overused words. I see it written far more than I hear it, and I figure if so many things are iconic, none really are.
Some words and phrases just disappear. People stop using them. When was the last time anyone was referred to as no spring chicken? We wore blue jeans and sneakers when I was a kid. My mother sometimes told me to stop being a prima donna. I didn’t know what a prima donna really was, but I knew what she meant. Why don’t you just take a picture? I remember using that if someone stared. When I visited my grandparents in the city, I sat on the stoop. I don’t think houses have stoops any more. My grandmother wore galoshes. I wore boots. How about wazoo? My mother often had it with us up to her wazoo. Maynard G. Krebs was a beatnik. A decade later he’d have been a hippie.
I figure all those lost words and phrases are floating around in the cosmos just waiting for the day of their return. That would be, for all of them, a red letter day.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: disappearing words, Mootness, Prima donna, words
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
July 29, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Enjoyable glimpse into the mind … read mine sometime
July 29, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Dear Ponderinggravely,
I read yours and my mind was taken on a ride-a really fun ride!
July 29, 2011 at 1:51 pm
They had predicted sunny and dry in the morning and rain the rest of the day, so naturally I wasn´t surprised when it was the opposite today 🙂 We´re having a wonderful and warm evening here now 🙂 🙂 🙂
Miss use of words isn´t that common here but we have another huge problem that I´m not sure what it is called in english. For instance the word christmas tree is two words in english but only one in swedish (so if we wrote it in a swedish way it would become christmastree). By dividing that word in to two in swedish one is actually saying two things christmas and tree and that tree could be any tree if You understand how I mean.
My favorite is the word cashier, in swedish that is kassapersonal. By divide kassa and personal one actually says crappy staff 🙂 🙂 🙂
People divide words just because we tend to think in an english speaking way now days.
Have a great day!
Christer.
July 29, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Christer,
Sometimes the kassapersonal really is kassa personal.
Swedish must be great for puns. 🙂
July 29, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Christer,
The day is getting damper and damper and darker and darker. I figure the rain is getting close.
I understand exactly what you mean about Christmas and tree. The literal translation of kassa and personal gave me a chuckle-it could very well be true in many places!
Enjoy the weekend!!
July 29, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Hi Kat,
Oh, there are so many of those misused words. The one that makes me cringe each time I hear or read it is “dove” as in “He dove off the bridge”. That usage is in some dictionaries now because so many people say it. I don’t care. It’s still wrong.
Having the same kind of day up here. Rocky had to go to the vet this morning for routine shots and a heart worm test. He did not behave well which is unusual for him. It took two tries to get some blood out of him. Needless to say, he didn’t get a good dog sticker. He got the Big Chicken sticker. 🙂
Enjoy the rest of the day.
July 29, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Hi Caryn,
Snuck is my dove. I hear it all the time, especially on TV. I often wonder if anyone proofreads scripts, or if they do, is English their mother tongue.
Rain’s coming. The afternoon is suddenly quite dark.
I laughed at poor Rocky and his Big Chicken sticker. I never see them draw Gracie’s blood as they do it in the back. When I ask how she was, they always say great. I doubt it!
July 29, 2011 at 6:22 pm
I like this post a lot. It won’t compare, of course, to a Kat Ryan 50 years from now writing about “Rap”. I can just envision that post. Anyway, this is a good one for the “coffee table” book.
July 29, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Z&Me,
Thanks! I read it a couple of times to check it and decided I liked it as well. Some days the words just flow while other days it’s like pulling teeth (sneaked that one right in, didn’t I?).
Rap? What’s rap?
July 30, 2011 at 4:18 am
Rocket Assisted Projectile. Sometimes mistaken for the ERFB-BB.
Cheers
July 29, 2011 at 7:52 pm
‘Irregardless’ of all the misused words that readers may list here on this ‘cite,’ I’m convinced the worst of the lot is ‘unique.’ So many things are unique today, it’s just awesome! (shoot me now)
July 29, 2011 at 8:10 pm
I’d give anything (yeah, right!) if I ‘was’ able to edit my post. I probably should have said ‘sight’ rather than ‘cite.’ Which doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of sights on some web sites. Awesome sights, of course… most probably unique.
July 29, 2011 at 8:14 pm
im6,
You must have enjoyed this!
July 29, 2011 at 8:12 pm
I saw the first word and groaned. Even though I knew it was you pulling my leg, I couldn’t stop the groan.
I’d rather hang you by your thumbs. Shooting would be too quick!
July 29, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Torture won’t effect me. (This example recently caused a big brouhaha at work when one of the VPs ‘corrected’ some copy I’d written for an email that was going to hundreds of thousands. His edit was ignored.)
July 29, 2011 at 9:17 pm
im6,
I spent my time correcting the TV and now some novels. The English language suffers-I can hear its pain!
July 30, 2011 at 11:06 pm
One that offends me (and I would suppose the ancient Roman generals also) is decimated. Today and especially on the NatGeo channel it is used to mean that something is totally depleted as in a ‘decimated’ fish population. When in fact it means (or used to anyway) the act of killing one in ten (to teach the average underpaid soldier a lesson about something or other). LOL
I really do suppose it is silly of me to find that so disturbing. Like there aren’t more important things to worry about. But it helps pass the time and makes me feel a little more educated. LOL
MT C
July 30, 2011 at 11:32 pm
Carl,
I think we all have some word or other which drives us crazy. I know deci means 10, but I never though about the word decimated as meaning one in ten. I was with the fish.