Episode #017, 29.01.2012: inevitable

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inevitable
inevitable, adjective. Unavoidable, sure to happen.
In a sentence: “That’s impossible!” “No, it is inevitable, Mr. Anderson.”
This is one of my favorite words that Agent Smith says in the movie The Matrix. He says it quite often. Also, I think it has a quick, swift sound to it.
Wiktionary points out that there are some differences between inevitable and unavoidable. It says that unavoidable has nuances of “could not have happened any other way, even if circumstances were different”. Inevitable, however, connotes “given circumstances, this is the necessary result”. Both words are often used with a negative connotation.

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Episode #016, 22.01.2012: ludicrous

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ludicrous
ludicrous, adjective. Absurd, ridiculous, exciting or deserving derision.
In a sentence: “The idea of a bird with shoes is ludicrous.”
Today’s word is ludicrous. It’s one of those words that sound like their meaning. Because certainly a word like ludicrous can only mean something weird. What do I think of when I hear the word? Well, I think of this passage from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:
“One definition of life, albeit not a particularly useful one, might run something like this: ‘Life is that property which a being will lose as a result of falling out of a cold and mysterious cave thirteen miles above ground level.’ This is not a useful definition, ‘A’ - because it could equally well refer to the subject’s glasses if he happens to be wearing them, and ‘B’ - because it fails to take into account the possibility that the subject might happen to fall onto, say, the back of an extremely large passing bird. The first of these flaws is due to sloppy thinking, but the second is understandable, because the mere idea is quite clearly, utterly ludicrous.”
Let’s also notice the words:

• albeit, conjunction. Though, as
• particularly, adverb. Especially. To a great extent.
• sloppy, adjective. Unsystematic, not thorough.

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Episode #015, 15.01.2012: Spotlight: One and two letter words in the English language

One thing has always fascinated me about the English language, something that very few languages have: one letter words.

1. One word is actually the same as in German, Ukrainian and Russian:
   O, interjection. Expression of earnestness or reverence, used before the name of a deity or revered person in impassioned speech.
   This word is even in the title of the national anthem of Canada: O Canada. It is very, very popular with poets.
2. First person singular subject personal pronoun: I
   This one is clear, I hope. Did you know that it is also a noun? In metaphysics, the I means the ego, the self.
3. And finally there is: a. The indefinite article.

Did you notice how they are all important words? This is probably no coincidence. Words you use often tend to be shorter, because people don’t want to waste time.

For that, there are even more words that have the same sound as just one letter, such as:

• B, as in to be or the insect bee.
• C, as in sea for ocean or to see.
• G, for the interjection “Gee!” from American slang signifying surprise or a dirty word from Irish slang.
• I (eye), for the visual organ.
• J (jay), for a dated insult or for a type of bird. I’m not a biologist, but a jay is somewhat like a magpie.
• K, for the short version of okay.
• N, for the short version of and.
• P, for the small green vegetable (pea) or to urinate (pee).
• Q, for cue, the stick you use for pool or a signal for somebody to do something. Queue is also British English for a waiting line.
• R, as in you are. It is also a frequent word in pirate English.
• T, for the beverage made by combining boiling water with leaves (tea).
• U, for the second-person personal pronoun (you).
• X, often used for the word cross, as in x out.
• Y, when asking for reasons (Why?).

Furthermore, there are a whole bunch of words that have only two letters, like:

OK, to, ah, by, bi, of, as, ex, go, is, he, it, we, us, me, my, hi, id, if, in, no, on, or, pi and many others.

So keep it short, but not too short.

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Episode #014, 08.01.2012: to and fro

fro, adverb. Away (only in to and fro, backwards and forwards, or of repeated journeys between two places).

In a sentence: “Thinking hard, he walked to and fro.”

I encountered the phrase walking to and fro in Charles Dickens’ novel, David Copperfield. At the time of publication, in 1850, to and fro was common, but today it is considered dated. The word fro is interesting, as it is (almost) never used alone. It comes from the Old Norse word frá /frauː/.

To and fro describes short repetitive motions, a walking back and forth. So it is only fitting that the phrase is comprised of multiple short words.

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Episode #013, 01.01.2012: non sequitur

Happy New Year! One year follows the next, but today I will show you what does not follow…

Sound: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/non_sequitur

non sequitur, noun.

1. an inference that does not follow from the premises; specifically: a fallacy resulting from a simple conversion of a universal affirmative proposition or from the transposition of a condition and its consequent
2. a statement (as a response) that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said

(Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com)

In a sentence: “‘It rains, therefore the sun is not shining’ is a non sequitur”.

This is a very obscure word, as “sequitur” and “non sequitur” are neither found in The Concise Oxford Dictionary nor the second edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English.

I encountered this word in books about philosophy, but I couldn’t find it in my dictionaries. Non sequitur was first used in the 16^th century and is Latin for “it does not follow”.

As seen, non sequitur is a fallacy in logic, but it can also be something blurted out in a discussion that has no relevance to the topic.

So: Stay away from those non sequiturs and have a great year 2012!

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