A WORD A DAY.

Southland Times, Issue 22011, 10 May 1933, Page 6

A WORD A DAY.

PROFESS. There is a wholesome simplicity about this word which makes it pleasing to use. It primarily signifies to speak out, to declare openly, from the Latin professus, past participle of Profiteri, “to profess” (pro, “before,” fateri, “to confess”). There should be nothing underhanded about one who professes, and the modern significance which is sometimes attached to the word, of “making a show of,” or “pretending,” is quite foreign to its origin. To profess means to declare one’s faith in, to acknowledge a belief in, and consequently one shows a pride in what he believes is right or true. One may note that there is no empty following-of-the-crowd idea expressed here. First there has to be knowledge, a substantiation of facts, then a willingness to declare openly one’s belief. “Confession” implies an acknowledgement of faith or wrongs or beliefs pertaining to oneself; “professipn” announces publicly one’s affection for, obedience to, or confidence in, persons or doctrines. The final syllable of pro-fess is accented. Sound o as in obey, e as in end. “Hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” FOOL AND MORON. For R.R.—Between these two terms, there is fixed a considerable gulf. The primary meaning of fool is “a person lacking in understanding, judgment, or common sense; a simpleton,” whereas a moron is “a person whose mental capacity has been arrested during development,” as an adult possessed of the intellect of a child of ten or twelve. The word fool is applied to a weak-minded person, .but rarely, as the dictionary makes quite clear. Psychology holds no other connotations of the terms, since it is the object of that science to explain and clarify the functions of the mind, not to befog them.

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