– Definition: adj expressing or of the nature of necessary truth or absolute certainty
– Used in a sentence: Edward R. Murrow was the exemplar of apodictic American journalism.
– Why: Because it’s easier to spell and less overused than “paradigmatic.”
Tag: Words to Bring Back
Dust ’em off and sprinkle liberally!
Words to Bring Back: “Obviate”
– Definition: verb remove (a need or difficulty)
– Used in a sentence: Popular voting would obviate the problematic and obsolete Electoral College.
– Why: Because the phrase “get rid of” lacks a certain finesse.
Words to Bring Back (or in this case, Forth): “Wonderpiece”
– Definition: n That creation which evokes awe in the beholder.
– Used in a sentence: Have you ever heard Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” wonderpiece in its entirety?
– Why: Though arguably a mere synonym for “art” (at least as defined by https://metaphorager.net/pithyism-5/), I like to think of this neologism as “art-PLUS.” Not all art stimulates our sense of wonder and reverence; not all oratory or music or cinema or poetry or what-have-you makes us weak-kneed with wordless appreciation. Yet we might be conceptually richer if we could point to what exemplifies art’s indefinable but very real power. Drop this word into your next deep conversation and see if it floats!
Words to Bring Back: “Quotidian”
– Definition: adj ordinary or everyday, especially when mundane.
– Used in a sentence: If you can’t find pleasure in the quotidian, you likely won’t find it anywhere else.
– Why: To seize our eyeballs in the current attention economy, modern media abound in exclamatory superlatives: “Maximum!” “Ultimate!” “Extreme!” One welcome corrective might be to shift our focus toward life’s less intense, but no less important, aspects: a sincere handshake, late afternoon sunlight, soft music, petrichor, the flavor of cold water. Try it for yourself and see.
Word to Bring Back: “Fastuous”
– Definition: adj. 1. haughty, arrogant 2. ostentatious, showy
– Used in a sentence: The fastuous have taken their first steps down the rabbit-hole of militant mediocrity.
– Why: It sounds similar to “fatuous” — silly and pointless — and rightly so.
(Thank you, M.F.K. Fisher. Good one.)
Word to Bring Back: “Privacy”
– Definition: n. the quality or state of being apart from company or observation
– Used in a sentence: American culture’s “instant celebrity” fixation is playing hob with the basic concept of privacy.
– Why: Duh.
Words To Bring Back: “Perfervid”
– Definition: adj. intense and impassioned
– Used in a sentence: The perfervid activists had trouble with their blood pressure.
– Why: There is something attractive about a three-syllable word replacing a three-word phrase. (Maybe it’s the concisifier in me.)
Word to Bring Back: “Prig”
– Definition: noun a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others.
– Used in a sentence: Scratch a prig, find a hypocrite.
– Why: To name a thing is to control it — either by voting it out of office, or changing the channel.
Words to Bring Back: “Shambolic”
– Definition: adj.; chiefly British chaotic, disorganized, or mismanaged.
– Used in a sentence: Our political and cultural landscapes have become shambolic as all get-out.
– Why: Because we need a more polite (and adjectival) descriptor than… those in current usage.
Word to Bring Back: “Amphitryon”
– Definition: (French) n. person with whom or at whose expense one dines
– Used in a sentence: My father is a well-known and gracious amphitryon.
– Why: Aside from its capitalized Greek origin (Amphitryon was, according to Sophocles, a king of Thebes and companion to Heracles), famed 18th-century gastronome J.A. Brillat-Savarin is wholly enamored of its use in his seminal Physiology of Taste wherein it is synonymous with “host.” (If you’re going to steal, steal from the greats. Especially if they stole it first.)
Words To Bring Back: “Daresay”
– Definition: v., archaic used to indicate that one believes something is probable.
– Used in a sentence: I daresay we need to get out the vote this November, or all will be lost.
– Why: You could always and instead use the more commonplace “suppose,” I suppose, but why be common? Flex those archaisms and focus your listeners’ attention!
Re-Vision
LOVE adv. A DEDICATED SERIES OF related kindnesses and decisions.