Balls and Walnuts
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The enormity of “enormity”
President-Elect Obama (HUZZAH!) said it in his speech last night, and just now some commentator on CNN did the same: enormity, used in the sense of enormousness. This has always been a pet peeve of mine. Darfur is an enormity; the Pacific Ocean is just plain enormous.
It’s like the word “harrass,” which people sometimes pronounce “harris,” like the surname. That bugs me, too.
Let’s check Webster’s . . .
Main Entry:
enor·mi·ty
Pronunciation:
\i-ˈnȯr-mə-tē\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural enor·mi·ties
Date:
15th century1: an outrageous, improper, vicious, or immoral act
2: the quality or state of being immoderate, monstrous, or outrageous ; especially : great wickedness
There — I told you.
Huh? What? There’s more?
3: the quality or state of being huge : immensity
4: a quality of momentous importance or impact
usage Enormity, some people insist, is improperly used to denote large size. They insist on enormousness for this meaning, and would limit enormity to the meaning “great wickedness.†Those who urge such a limitation may not recognize the subtlety with which enormity is actually used. It regularly denotes a considerable departure from the expected or normal
they awakened; they sat up; and then the enormity of their situation burst upon them. “How did the fire start?†— John Steinbeck.
Doh!
I’m wrong about “harrass,” too.
D.
I always thought that ‘enormity’ meant a vast, previously incomprehensible condition that you’re forced to see and asses. Like ‘he stared dumbstruck at the enormity of the devastation’. Not so much size, but rather depth and scope of the extreme. In a bad way. 🙂
I can’t think of a use for enormity for something good.
You’re not THAT wrong. From answers.com:
Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity… This distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed historically, but nowadays many observe it. Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President’s election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter.
I am gobsmacked… gobsmacked! I tell you, at the enormity of this situation.
Thanks, folks.
Hey, Tarantula Lady, you doin’ anything later?
heh heh
u know the kangs anglish is something i dont understand – lol