26 January 2007
The Ironicity of It All
I recently discovered something that I absolutely hate. I've noticed that some people (often college professors) will use words that don't exists but sound like they could exist. These words are often several syllables and could easily be replaced by a shorter word that already exists. For example, we have a word in the English language called "irony." I could then say that the title of a work--say A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift--is ironic. Now, when referring to the fact that this title is ironic, I should not refer to it's ironicity. Rather, I would probably better serve the world by referring simply to the title's irony. How about another example? Some people in this world are what we would call "sadists." We could also say that those people are sadistic. However, sadistic people are not sadisticists. They are merely sadists. Please refrain from this type of speech...for your sake, for my sake, for Heaven's sake.
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7 comments:
Have you ever read Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"?
Mmmm....Ironic. Like rain on your wedding day. Oh wait.
I believe what Mr. Compston is trying to say is that its like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife...
...no... that doesn't work either.
...its like meeting the man of your dreams, and then meeting his BEAUTIFUL wife. hmmm...
"Ironicity" the new album from the Police.
James, you're such a grammar criticismist.
Well done Whitney!!
Well, an "ironist" is someone that uses irony, especially a writer.
Best regards,
adgvlz
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