Next: confusing pairs, part 1
A Research Tip
Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Do
Editor: Neil Guthrie
— 7 comments — Research & Writing
Some recent comments:
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Great tips. But I literally stopped at “unlettered” for a moment. Use of the term in this context seems a bit unwarranted.
Lord X will be disappointed at the enormity of your offense
Funny, I was just about to post a comment concerning the hilarity of that little jab.
Good post, well written. Thanks. I will be back soon to check out for updates.
Cheers.
At least two of these words (enormity, fulsome) actually do mean what you say they don’t mean, as revealed by a quick google search – at least in well-accepted secondary meanings and arguably even as primary meanings
And CONCERNING does mean troubling or worrisome, as in “That cough is concerning.”
some of these distinctions are gone gone gone, I fear (as Tim says, on Oct 3) – and some are alive but the two meanings are used so much that the word can be considered ‘skunked’ – i.e. it should not be used because listeners or readers may not know which meaning is intended. I would say ‘disinterested’ is one of those, though I would also say it’s probably rarer in its original sense (impartial) than in its mistaken sense (uninterested).