Are you someone who decided to collect 8-track cassettes because LPs have become so popular? Do you enjoy worrying about other people’s language usage, but find that too many other people share the same interests? Do you need some new words that, when you come across them at a cocktail party, will allow you to say gracefully and softly (but not also quietly) inform the speaker that they have just made a small mistake? If so, look no further, because Merriam-Webster has you covered.
Alfred Ayres, writing in his 1881 book The Verbalist, said of effectuate (“to cause or bring”) that “the word, together with reason and fact, is believed to be very popular with the rural members of the establishment.” favorite Arkansas legislator.” Fighting words!
For much of the 20th century, certain words unfortunately ended with the suffix –size was frowned upon (encourage, complete, prioritize). But –size words weren’t the only thing that burned; words ending in –eat also seem to be quite adept at inciting anger, or they were in the late 19th century.
Alfred Ayres, writing in his 1881 book The speakertalk about effective (“cause or bring”) that “this word, together with reasoning And happen, was said to be very popular with rural members of the Arkansas legislature.” Fighting words! Not to be outdone, Henry Alford, in 1864 The Queen’s Prayer for Englishtalk about happen that it is “another terrible word, rapidly entering our language through the provincial press.” However, as often happens when comparing assessments of 19th-century language criticism, it was Richard Grant White who vehemently objected.
Militate is rarely abused, except that its use is abusive, and it belongs to non-words. It does not appear in Johnson’s Dictionary, and it was introduced relatively recently… However, its use is not a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of preference. It belongs to a bad family, among which are necessary, reasonable, valid and ultimately, which… should not be recognized as a member of good English society.—Richard Grant White, Words and their use1880
Do these words really belong to “a bad family”? That depends on your view of what is considered, in White’s phrase, “members of good British society”. Almost –eat the words that 19th-century professors raged on are not particularly new; many of them seem to have entered our language in the 15th and 16th centuries.
effective can be found from 1577:
Before all that, Adrian gaue ordered that Traiane’s body could be taken to Italie, where it would be placed in a spacious tomb, and to accomplish the same, ordered his ashes to be kept. placed in a Vnicorne box….—Antonio de Guevara, a chronicle1577
military (“to have weight or effect”) goes back to 1598:
The glamor of this frivolous world, she despises, Considering the slippery state of mundane things, So she hovers over the Spheres of Heaven, To sing and rejoice before the King of the Spheres king: Her Vertues fought on earth, Against the flesh, deuill, sin, and hell.—Thomas Rogers, Celestial Elegies of the Goddesses and the Muses1598
happen (“finally released”) can be found from 1697:
Or do they think…that God is too good to inflict Eternal Misery on any Creature?—Timothy Manlove, The immortality of the soul is confirmed1697
There are some characteristics shared by most of these scowls: they tend to be longer than necessary and smell like the kind of words someone uses when trying to appear smart. Some of them, for example orientation (“for orientation”), or chat (“to talk”), created through reverse formation, this is always a recipe for criticism.
Sometimes there are success stories, such as combatant, became a completely accepted (though little known) member of good British society. Others, such as orientation, separated; American English speakers tend to see the word as a combination of pomp and illiterate, while it is more accepted by English speakers. For reasoning (“reason”), happenAnd effectivethey have expanded beyond being used by “rural members of the Arkansas legislature,” though some usage guidelines will still caution against them, in favor of shorter words.
And so, if you are bored with old stories of regulation, and want to have a fashion boutique, maybe you can consider this wonderful collection of world clamps. 19th century: combatant, reasoningAnd effective. Fewer people will know what you’re talking about, and of those who do, even fewer will care, but you can rest easy knowing that you’re unique in the way you speak your language. . And at least you won’t talk about despite.
Seriously, everyone is sick of hearing about that.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
