Posted on 10/27/2011 4:33:44 AM PDT by secret garden
In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
catachresis \kat-uh-KREE-sis\ , noun
1 use of the wrong word for the context
2 use of a forced and especially paradoxical figure of speech
Example sentences:
"Online dictionaries are handy. One can click on synonyms and antonyms, follow new links and lures, and get pleasantly lost in a high-tech thicket of info. Being a tap or two away, more people might be tempted to look up unfamiliar words. And anything that counteracts catachresis is fine with us."
-- From an editorial in the Telegram & Gazette (Massachusetts), December 7, 2009
"Dryden had drawn attention to Cleveland's poetic manner in Of Dramatick Poesy: An Essay (1668), creating the label 'Clevelandism' to name the poet's habit of catachresis, 'wresting and torturing a word into another meaning', and making unfavorable comparisons between Donne and Cleveland…."
-- From Nigel Smith's 2010 book Andrew Marvell: The Chameleon
Etymology:
As you might have guessed, "catachresis" is a word favored by grammarians. It can sometimes be used merely as a fancy label of disparagement for uses the grammarian finds unacceptable --as when Henry Fowler insisted in 1926 that "mutual" in "our mutual friend" was a catachresis. (Fowler preferred "common," but "mutual" does have an established sense which is correct in that context.) The first recorded use of "catachresis" dates to1553, and it has been used to describe (or decry) misuses of a word ever since. "Catachresis" comes to us by way of Latin from the Greek word "katachrēsis," which means "misuse."
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
Review Thread One: Word For The Day, Thursday 11/14/02: Raffish (Be SURE to check out posts #92 and #111 on this thread!)
Review Thread Two: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/14/03: Roister
Review Thread Three: Word For The Day, Tuesday 1/28/03: Obdurate
WFB's attempt to emulate us ; ) No pushing at the door please!
Thanks... Sorry about the TB game — Buffalo is playing stupid at home like last year so far. Good luck!
You should be in luck, playing Columbus today.
The supposedly learned ‘rats
Thumbed their noses for years
At the catachresis of Bush-
So why aren’t they in tears?
The grammatical atrocities
Of Obama are twice as bad-
From corpsman to ghetto-speak
It’s enough to drive one mad
Didn’t he attend a private school?
He has a teleprompter for debates
At least George knew his geography-
There are not 57 states...
I’m waiting for the cold front to get here-it is due right about now, and the wind just picked up and shifted to the North-I’m washing the summer bedspreads and quilts to put away in the linen closet and have put comforters on the beds-I’m ready for Fall...
No, catechrism is when they teach you about the Holy Oils.
From today’s posts on FR:
**So let’s here it for all the literal loses who pulled out of the market and missed one of the best Octobers on record.**
A+ for you!
Funny guy.
The Freep is predictable sometimes. A for you!
Thank you!
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