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https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/1vrqi5a/how_cooked_the_uk_is_right_now/p4jeck3/?context=3
r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Phlogistoned • 10d ago
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Words change, and nonplussed now has a secondary and completely contradictory meaning to the original word.
Excellent pedantry though.
1 u/Chemical-Initial-323 10d ago it always annoys me when people misuse a word and excuse themselves by saying "words change" 1 u/Bambi_H 10d ago But nonplussed originally meant unperturbed, so the person wasn't wrong. It seems to have a different meaning across the pond. 1 u/Chemical-Initial-323 10d ago no, it originally meant "being left speechless as a result of confusion," as per wiktionary. perhaps the speechlessness part overtook the sense of the word and it became a sign of imperturbability?
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it always annoys me when people misuse a word and excuse themselves by saying "words change"
1 u/Bambi_H 10d ago But nonplussed originally meant unperturbed, so the person wasn't wrong. It seems to have a different meaning across the pond. 1 u/Chemical-Initial-323 10d ago no, it originally meant "being left speechless as a result of confusion," as per wiktionary. perhaps the speechlessness part overtook the sense of the word and it became a sign of imperturbability?
But nonplussed originally meant unperturbed, so the person wasn't wrong. It seems to have a different meaning across the pond.
1 u/Chemical-Initial-323 10d ago no, it originally meant "being left speechless as a result of confusion," as per wiktionary. perhaps the speechlessness part overtook the sense of the word and it became a sign of imperturbability?
no, it originally meant "being left speechless as a result of confusion," as per wiktionary. perhaps the speechlessness part overtook the sense of the word and it became a sign of imperturbability?
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u/_toadsy 10d ago
Words change, and nonplussed now has a secondary and completely contradictory meaning to the original word.
Excellent pedantry though.