Misused Words.
FRIEND who has a nice taste in words dropped in the other day to announce that he had discovered the latest fashion in fancy words. It is “ineluctable.” To emphasise how valueless the word is, “ Touchstone ” does not propose to give the meaning or pronunciation of it. Nobody will be the poorer. Why do words like this “ have a run at all? Because there are so many copyists and plagiarists ever on the look-out to pick somebody else’s brains. And who starts the fashion ? Well, it may be some literarv Smart Alec, or even some joker. Go back from year to year and you will find the bones of a lot of fancy words bleaching on the strand—repercussion, intrigued, cliche, incunabula, and that old favourite, camouflage. Towards the end of last century there was hardly a page of a newspaper that did not have fin de siecle once if not oftener. Can any reader think out a few over-
worked big words ? TOUCHSTONE.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19331205.2.91
Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 936, 5 December 1933, Page 6
Word Count
165Misused Words. Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 936, 5 December 1933, Page 6
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