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The word "nonplussed"

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... used to mean surprised. It didn't mean unimpressed or unperturbed. In fact, that's still the only definition in dictionaries I've looked at. But I never seem to hear it being used in that way any more. I don't use the word becuase I assume people will think I mean the wrong thing. I wonder if it's just a matter of time before that new meaning takes its place in dictionaries.

I guess people apply their own false etymology to it and think, "plussed" means being impressed, or at least affected in some way, and nonplussed is its opposite. Which is understandable. But why only recently? Is it all plusses being added to products and wotnot, embedding plus in our brains? Maybe not.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:36 (nineteen years ago)

I've thought of it as meaning 'confused' or 'unaware' in the past also.

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

-+'d

― geoff (gcannon), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:39 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, surprised or confused, I should have said. Bemused. That sort of thing.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

I've never heard people use it in this astoundingly incorrect way before. Are all your friends and colleagues idiots, perchance?

― emil.y (emil.y), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:42 (nineteen years ago)

if you use it that way youve got another think coming

― and what (ooo), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

they should start using it as one of those "trick" SAT words like "urbane"

― Dr. Alicia D. Titsovich (sexyDancer), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:47 (nineteen years ago)

not never come across this neither. is it a glasgow thing?

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

I've heard it. In fact, for many years was very confused (nonplussed, even) over its true meaning.

I think it might be a Merkin thing.

― Do Not Feed The Crush (kate), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:52 (nineteen years ago)

I've only really ever heard it to mean "unimpressed." I think somewhere down the line I heard that that was incorrect, but everyone always uses it that way, anyway, so I've carried on.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

a Merkin thing?!

― You've Got Scourage On Your Breath (Haberdager), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:53 (nineteen years ago)

yes, a pubes wig.
Or what do you morans think it means-uh?

― Dr. Alicia D. Titsovich (sexyDancer), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

who uses it to mean 'unimpressed'?! i don't think i've heard that one. surely everyone knows it's 'confused'? hmm

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:55 (nineteen years ago)

I have never heard it used to mean anything other than "unimpressed". maybe its a UK vs. US thing

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:57 (nineteen years ago)

from Webster:

nonplus
: to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do : PERPLEX

― mcd (mcd), Thursday, 4 January 2007 21:59 (nineteen years ago)

or maybe everyone I know who's ever used the word is wrong!

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:01 (nineteen years ago)

I've never heard people use it in this astoundingly incorrect way before. Are all your friends and colleagues idiots, perchance?

I was mostly talking about reading it in print, to be honest. And mostly online. And probably mostly on ILX! Someone on the end of year film thread just used it to mean unimpressed, I think, which is what reminded me. Apologies if I misunderstood them. Anyway, "idiots" is a bit harsh! It's normal to learn meanings from the context in which other people use them.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:04 (nineteen years ago)

alba's suggestions seem reasonable enough. but then also the etymology doesnt appear entirely false either, juding by wot dictionary.com says: nonplussed, non plus, nothing further, and the synonym with 'at a loss' just about still stands up. so maybe what's changed is erm people's capacity to get all flustered about having nothing to say - and yeah perhaps because as alba says, everything in the world's trying to plus you out anyway, so that the state of being plussed should come at a higher price, so whtvr.

maybe the REAL question is why it took so long for people to start using 'meh'?

― tsk. (mwah), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:19 (nineteen years ago)

First encountered it in the Hardy Boys adventure novels I read at Gramma's house during the summer holidays. At age 10 or so, in perusing the adventures of Chet and whoeverthefuck (who were frequently "nonplussed" by this or that), I too was a bit confused as to the word's meaning. But I looked it up, and that was that.

I've used it ever since to mean surprised, at a loss, rendered speechless, etc. I've occasionally heard it used incorrectly, but it's a word you seldom hear, so I haven't paid much mind.

Are we saying that this is becoming a popular word, but only if used incorrectly? Like people who pronouce forte as "fortay?"

― Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:20 (nineteen years ago)

I pronounce it fortay! And my dictionary says it's OK!

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:22 (nineteen years ago)

perhaps the viral re-educators responsible for re-aligning 'penultimate's spine will do the same for 'nonplussed'.

― m@p (plosive), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:23 (nineteen years ago)

how else would you pronounce forte, if not fortay, and assuming this is not the french word?

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:24 (nineteen years ago)

However, my dictionary does not say it's OK to pronounce cache as cachay (like cachet), which a few people seem to do. Google's caché. Actually I even saw it accented like that the other day.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:24 (nineteen years ago)

x-post - what do people now use "penultimate" to mean??

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:25 (nineteen years ago)

That's how you pronounce forte!

Are you not being a bit disingenuous hre, Alba? OED's second defintion of nonplussed is "N. Amer. informal unperturbed". I've certainly been aware of that meaning at least as long as the other one.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:25 (nineteen years ago)

i've never heard cache pronounced like cachet but then i'm not sure i've ever heard anone say cache out loud before. completely wrong anyway!

― lex pretend (lex pretend), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

xpost - Okay reading more carefully I see you're not, sorry.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

how do you say "forte"?

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

HOLD ON A SEC. Forte as in the musical term is from Italian, and you pronounce it "fortay". Forte as in "personal strength or talent" is from French, and correctly pronounced "fort". This may be overly picky but is what I follow.

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:27 (nineteen years ago)

Like better than ultimate (when "ultimate" is being used as a synonym for "bestest in the world ever"), according to one of the other gazillion lolz at teh stoopid people wrong-usage threads.

I didn't believe it.

(xpost to Alba)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:28 (nineteen years ago)

I can see how it makes little sense to be adding a French sounding e acute to forte, when the actual French root is a one-syllable fort, but... that's the only way anyone says it in the UK, as far as I know, though I was nonplussed to see just now that my dictionary gives the one-syllable version first of the two alternatives. You learn something new every day.

xpost - oh, I hadn't thought about the Italian musical thing! I feel vindicated.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:29 (nineteen years ago)

This one, in fact:

Words, usages, and phrases that annoy the shit out of you...

(xpost to myself)

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:29 (nineteen years ago)

(still, my dictionary does say it came to English via the French, not the Italian, so meh)

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:30 (nineteen years ago)

Believe me, PLENTY of people say "fortay" when they mean "fort". I hear it all the time. I only mention the difference to people I know will enjoy the distinction. :)

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:30 (nineteen years ago)

Laurel, OTM.

See also: pianoforte (Italian etym.)

"My, that's a nice piano-"fortay" you've got there."

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

might also add that i'd too been unaware of its rightful meaning before clicking on this thread, and still remain rather fond of its wrong usage. we need to preserve our 'meh' words anyway, there's more than enough fancy words for wailing certainties as it is.

cachay/fortay's alright by me as well actually. if ppl insist on dropping flowerbomb words in conversation then they can at least have the sense of humour to not make it sound like theyre talking about some money, or a castle.

― rtccc (mwah), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

Accenting cache would ruin some great puns. Pardon me, do you cache Czechs?

Nonplussed is definitely a US/UK thing. As a US person surrounded by definition #2, I have to exert a small conscious effort to use #1 correctly, but I always succeed. I think it takes on a sort of hybrid meaning for some people: confused and unperturbed and not particularly pleased. "I was fairly nonplussed when nobody came to the airport to meet me, but I knew the way to the house, so I took a cab."

― Paul Eater (eater), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:33 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, I speedmisread you, Laurel. You weren't sticking up for "fortay" at all. Shame. I don't think I can start saying a one-syllable forte, at least not in the UK. People would look at me funny.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:34 (nineteen years ago)

Origin C17 (orig. as fort): from Fr. fort(masc.), forte(fem.) 'strong'

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:34 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, I don't think that's in dispute.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

Laurel's already clarified my point, re: fort. Go, Laurel.

― Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

But saying: "Cryptography is one of my 'fort's" just sounds ridiculous.

"Cryptography is one of my 'fortays'" makes much more sense.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

It does not! You can decide that it sounds better to you, but it does NOT "make more sense"!

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:36 (nineteen years ago)

an old friend of mine pronounced cache like "catch," potentially no big deal unless you're into computers and a history/foreign pol bod, which he was both. said it all the time.

― geoff (gcannon), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

I don't speak much French, I was wondering whether the double derivation might explain why the dictionary permits a pronunciation identical to the Italian.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:39 (nineteen years ago)

Forte as in "personal strength or talent" is from French, and correctly pronounced "fort".

Is this true? In French, you could say that something isn't your fort (not forte, but I assumed that forte came from Italian where forte has the same sense of 'skill, aptitude, or strength'.

I just got into a family argument about 'penultimate' the other day. Sheesh!

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

Unaccented cache is pronounced the same whether it's of guns or memory, yes?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

It can't be translated literally!

Je suis forte à la cryptographie. = I am strong at the cryptography.

No one says that!

Cryptography is my forte.

I think the bastardization of the word is therefore expected and acceptable. It's too intrinsically linked with the Italian pronunciation, therefore what can you do?

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

Andrew, you know that forte (the feminine) in French is pronounced with one syllable, right? Just with a hard t. I'm getting bit lost as to what points people are making now.

― Alba (Alba), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:40 (nineteen years ago)

cf. "niche": /neesh/ vs. /nitch/

― Paul Eater (eater), Thursday, 4 January 2007 22:41 (nineteen years ago)

Skipping 236 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.
[I fold my arms and nod]

― Sir Tehrance HoBB (the pirate king), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:18 (nineteen years ago)

Merriam-Webster online informs me "clique" should be pronounced as:
'klEk, 'klik

In other words, that's completely right in North America. I think I personally pronounce niche as neesh and cliché as clih-shay, although I believe I have heard "neetch" fairly often.

I still have no clue how we haven't americanized the spelling of hors d'oeuvres. That has to be the one thing that I can say aloud often and still have to pause when I see it in print because I have no idea what the hell it says.

― mh. (mike h.), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:25 (nineteen years ago)

It's hardly in common usage here either! Living in New York I've heard "might could" spoken approximately zero times.

― Paul Eater (eater), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:41 (nineteen years ago)

When I lived in NY, I never heard "might could" either. That's why it was so jarring to hear it for the first time in Tennessee. Now, I don't even notice it, as it's almost a daily occurrence.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:44 (nineteen years ago)

Though I don't really have anything further to add, it embiggens my heart to see this thread still rolling along.

― Adam Beales (Pye Poudre), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:51 (nineteen years ago)

I still have no clue how we haven't americanized the spelling of hors d'oeuvres

See, that makes no sense to me. Call it appetizer or whatever, if you will, but if you insist on using the fancy furrin word, leave it be. We've already anglicized it by putting pluralizing 'oeuvres' anyway.

― M. White (Miguelito), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:52 (nineteen years ago)

Re: "hors d'oeuvres" I think it is kind of lame that Americans get out of the difficult pronunciation involved with it by doing the same thing Brett Favre does with his name - just switch the r and the v around when you say it! Maybe no one will notice!

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:54 (nineteen years ago)

I might could go for some Oars Douvrahs!

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:54 (nineteen years ago)

>> To the UKers who seem nonplussed by our double modals, even though they have them themselves, "might could" means "might be able to"

I wasn't nonplussed by the existence of a double modal, just because I've never heard anyone say "might could" before and had no idea how it might could be used.

My wife always thinks it's funny when I say things like "I could do" instead of "I could"!

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:57 (nineteen years ago)

That's cute, but.

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 5 January 2007 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

yes no

― tokyo nursery school: afternoon session (rosemary), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:06 (nineteen years ago)

The British "I could do" (or similar) fascinates me because it doesn't just keep an extra word, it falls directly between the two usages Americans might choose. (Either "I could" or "I could do that.") It's as if it's willing to accept the act just mentioned -- the "that" part -- as obvious and a given, but for some reason the "do" needs to be restated.

Not that either the US or UK have any kind of consistent logic on this: with plenty of other verbs we'd just as readily say, e.g., "I could go," or whatever. (Am I right in feeling like the UK will use "do" even if the original verb was something else? Like "hey, can you go to the store?" / "Yeah, I could do." ?)

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:27 (nineteen years ago)

Right. I think if you leave off the "do" it changes completely, sounds snotty and sarcastic and recalcitrant. "Could do" is more sincerely ambivalent.

For a US version of the phenom you describe, nabisco, how about "Will do!"

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:30 (nineteen years ago)

i say 'could be' now and then

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:32 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, "will do" gets it! The UK style usually sounds nice to me, except when the original verb wasn't "do," in which case it sometimes sounds a little random, and I expect conversations like:

- "Do you think you could go to the store and pick up some onions?"
- "I could do."
- "Well for god's sake, do it in the toilet and not on my kitchen floor!"

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:39 (nineteen years ago)

Am I right in feeling like the UK will use "do" even if the original verb was something else?

yes. example:

"have they got [x] at the turkish shop?"
"might do. i can check on my way home."

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:44 (nineteen years ago)

Nabisco, when I was trying to think of examples of the use of 'could do' - this thread is making me wander around vocalising strange sentences - "could you go to the shops" was the first one I thought of.
"can you go out and get us a pack of butter?"
"could do, yeah."

"I could go", in the same position, would be less willing, I think, than 'could do' - It sounds to me like nitpicking, 'i could go (but don't want to)', whereas 'could do' implies 'sure, if you want'.

― ampersand, hearts, semicolon (cis), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:45 (nineteen years ago)

"can you go out and get us a pack of butter?"
"could do, yeah."
"well are you going to or not"
"nah"
"this country..."

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:47 (nineteen years ago)

this thread, je t'aime

― (moi nonplussed) (Haberdager), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:50 (nineteen years ago)

Actually maybe the reason it sounds unwilling is that it's unusual - that reply 'i could go' sounds like you're intentionally echoing the question 'can you go' in order to make a point about it, whereas 'could do' feels natural and unemphasised.

― ampersand, hearts, semicolon (cis), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:51 (nineteen years ago)

"I could go, but you're a cunt and I hate you"

― === temporary username === (Mark C), Friday, 5 January 2007 18:01 (nineteen years ago)

Hang on. I might be wrong, but aren't these just differing uses of ellipsis?

So, if you say "I could", then what you are really doing is removing the whole phrase "I could [go to the shops for you]", whereas "I could do" is removing the deictic marker, um, the demonstrative "I could do [that]".

― emil.y (emil.y), Friday, 5 January 2007 18:47 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, that's what I was saying a little upthread. It's just interesting that it uses ellipsis for part of the phrase but not all! Whereas, at least in that situation, Americans would either say or remove the whole bundle: either "I could" or "I could do that."

I think we think of "do [a thing]" as an inseparable unit: apart from answering questions with "yes, I do," I can't think of many situations where we say the word "do" without following up with the object of the doing!

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 5 January 2007 18:53 (nineteen years ago)

Q: Do you think it's going to rain later?

GB A: It might do.

USA A: It might / It might do that / It could might do that.

― Sir Tehrance HoBB (the pirate king), Friday, 5 January 2007 19:42 (nineteen years ago)

Ha, yeah, though I'd guess only like a couple percent of Americans say the "could might" thing, and in that rain example not very many people would say "it might do that." (Just cause it's weather.) I'd guess that like 75% of Americans would express that sentiment with just "it might," and another 10% would just say "might," after the fashion of a craggy, taciturn New England fisherman.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 5 January 2007 19:54 (nineteen years ago)

"I could do" without the "do" means no, to my ears.
- "Do you think you could go to the store and pick up some onions?"
- "I could."
- "Well, will you?"
- "no. it's raining."

― stet (stet), Friday, 5 January 2007 19:57 (nineteen years ago)

Depends on tone of voice, I think. And context.

"Fancy a pint?"
"Aye, could do, I suppose" = oh, go on then.

"Want to go over the shop and get a pint of milk?"
"Could do" (but I'm not going to because it's cold and I'm watching Coronation Street)

― ailsa (ailsa), Friday, 5 January 2007 20:00 (nineteen years ago)

- Do you, English man, take this woman to be your wife, etc.?
- I do do.
- [applause]
- Do you, English woman, take this man to be your husband, etc.?
- I do.
- [gasps]

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 5 January 2007 20:00 (nineteen years ago)

-Do you, craggy, taciturn New England fisherman, take this woman to be your wife?
-Do.
-Do you, southern belle, take this craggy, taciturn New England fisherman to be your husband?
-I could might may can do that.

― Sir Tehrance HoBB (the pirate king), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:29 (nineteen years ago)

"you know [x] is seeing [y]?"
"do go on!"


vs


"you know [x] is seeing [y]?"
"go on!"

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:42 (nineteen years ago)

they do though, don't they though

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:44 (nineteen years ago)

don't they just

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:47 (nineteen years ago)

no no! It's "might could" in that order. I've never heard of "could might" but I've only been in the South for about a year and a half.

― molly mummenschanz (mollyd), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:49 (nineteen years ago)

it means unaffected by addition

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 6 January 2007 00:53 (nineteen years ago)

Haha, awesome -- if I were marrying the New England fisherman I would totally want him to just say "do," or better yet "ayuh."

On the other tip, sadly, we only say stuff like "do go on" when we want to imitate English people, society matrons, Southern belles, or anyone else you could imagine calling a room a "parlor."

Now I wish I could go back to second grade and have a playground argument that goes "could so!" / "could not!" / "could so!" / "could not!" / "could do so!" / "WTF?" / "hahaha I WIN." I will have to settle with leaving work.

― nabisco (nabisco), Saturday, 6 January 2007 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

if I were marrying the New England fisherman

wait did i miss an episode?

― reverto levidensis (blueski), Saturday, 6 January 2007 01:09 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, in NYC lots of buildings have proper parlors! Or at least parlor floors, meant for receiving company and therefore tres fancy compared to the bedrooms and kitchen areas.

― Laurel (Laurel), Saturday, 6 January 2007 01:12 (nineteen years ago)

So in summation, "nonplussed" basically means WTF.

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 6 January 2007 02:42 (nineteen years ago)

It does? Man, that has totally gasted my flabber.

― StanM (StanM), Saturday, 6 January 2007 02:48 (nineteen years ago)

My 11 years in the South (NC) left me saying "Do what?" When I should be saying, "What?" or "What did you say?" or "Huh?" or "Excuse me?"

You: Excuse me sir, your shoelace is untied.
Me: Do what?

The first time I heard that I thought the person I was talking to thought that I had asked her to do something.

Does "Do what?" make me sound like a bumpkin?

― a puppy holding a miller high life bottle (unclejessjess), Saturday, 6 January 2007 04:47 (nineteen years ago)

I have never heard you say that, Jesse.

― jaymc (jaymc), Saturday, 6 January 2007 06:26 (nineteen years ago)

"Do what" makes me think of:

http://www.brew-wood.co.uk/comedy/youngones/ASAYLE.JPG

― Trayce (trayce), Saturday, 6 January 2007 06:47 (nineteen years ago)

What a long thread! But now I've made it to the bottom, I can tell you that my paternal grandparents always used to say kayfe for cafe. It was an ironic pronunciation that my Dad and I picked up, but I suspect it only became ironic after they found out it was wrong, to cover up for perceived ignorance.

I have to confess to saying cashay for cache. I know it's wrong, yet I *always* forget. I need somebody to delve into my brain and switch a couple of wires around.

An example of something I love about Scottish talk:
The hoovering needs to be done
becomes
The hoovering needs done

― Mädchen (Madchen), Saturday, 6 January 2007 11:56 (nineteen years ago)

But it never fucking is.

― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 6 January 2007 12:07 (nineteen years ago)

I've given up hoovering in my house. A broom is faster.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Saturday, 6 January 2007 12:27 (nineteen years ago)

When hoovers were finvented, were there fears they would unravel the fabric of the universe?

― Alba (Alba), Saturday, 6 January 2007 12:56 (nineteen years ago)

I have never heard you say that, Jesse.

I have always made an effort to purge it from my speech, especially after moving to Chicago.

"Hoovering" always sounds strange to me. I don't think USAians use that term at all, do we?

― a puppy holding a miller high life bottle (unclejessjess), Saturday, 6 January 2007 23:09 (nineteen years ago)

haha i say "do what?" ALL THE TIME

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Sunday, 7 January 2007 01:52 (nineteen years ago)

The word 'PERUSE'
The phrase 'COULD CARE LESS'

― remybean (bean), Sunday, 7 January 2007 02:15 (nineteen years ago)

No grammar snob I, but 'peruse' has gotten to be my personal bugaboo (bugbear) when it's used to mean 'glance at quickly.'

Also, I have always pronounced aunt as 'ahnt' (like the a in father) and not 'ant' like ant.

― remybean (bean), Sunday, 7 January 2007 02:22 (nineteen years ago)


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