Thursday, November 4, 2010

Words

Hey, folks--specifically writing folks--just a tip: neither enervate nor enormity mean what you (apparently) think they do. The latter, especially, is on the verge of changing meaning because of current usage, and that's a shame. It's a good word for something we need a good word for, especially in the current economic and political climate.

Jus' sayin'.

[Can you tell I've just read both these words in a published-on-paper environment, and it was the straw on this camel's back?]

2 thing(s) to say:

amy said...

My friend Debbie, who has a propensity for malapropism, recently deemed something (in my workplace) "the camel that broke the straw." I laughed until tears were streaming.

But I do feel your pain. There are too many good words--like impact--that are used poorly these days. (Impact is a fine verb, but I think it works best when referring to concrete concepts like teeth and bowels, not esoterica like society or change.)

Cat. said...

Must be Word Day: I just leapt on someone's use of "make" as in "She makes me sooo mad!" No no no: you get mad because she says things that annoy the shit out of you.

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