What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
merriam-webster.com
What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
1–10 of 337 posts
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#2"The common meaning of a little used word changed nearly 100 years ago."
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Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#3Don’t ruin it for me! It’s one of my favourite words, but I really have no idea why. Maybe because it’s just so odd.
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#4Don’t ruin it for me! It’s one of my favourite words, but I really have no idea why. Maybe because it’s just so odd.
I'm way more nonplussed about this than you, I don't really think it's that special.
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#5Don’t ruin it for me! It’s one of my favourite words, but I really have no idea why. Maybe because it’s just so odd.
> It’s one of my favourite words
Wait, shouldn't it be the second one, right after _petrichor_?
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#6This was one of my favorite "word of the day" entries, a word every speaker tries to work into their speech, at Toastmasters. The person who introduced it gave the two definitions and then basically said "it's the only word I know that means its opposite" or something to that effect. It got liberal use in every speech, including mine, and I still don't feel comfortable using it correctly.
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#7"The common meaning of a little used word changed nearly 100 years ago." ...
So you'd say that you are completely nonplussed? Because I was so nonplussed by it that I felt it worth sharing here.
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#8I think I've always assumed it meant "unimpressed." That is not the "new" meaning under discussion, but they seem to hint at it when they say, "This new sense appears to stem from a mistaken belief that the first three letters of nonplus are there to indicate that someone is something other than “plussed” (although what being plussed would entail here remains a mystery)."
I bet my meaning is the next change to this silly word. :)
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#9This was one of my favorite "word of the day" entries, a word every speaker tries to work into their speech, at Toastmasters. The person who introduced it gave the two definitions and then basically said "it's the only word I know that means its opposite" or something to that effect. It got liberal use in every speech, including mine, and I still don't feel comfortable using it correctly.
Merriam-Webster has its own entry about just that topic: words that are their own antonyms!
https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/words-own-opposites
Re: What's Going on with ‘Nonplussed’? (2017)
#10[deleted]