Highfalutin, on the other hand, does seem more commonly used in every-week-or-so language, yet I certainly had no clue how to spell it until I just checked. The more commonly used "highbrow" is probably in daily use.
I love words, language, grammar, and punctuation (the last being my weakness). One of my favorite books is Eats Shoots and Leaves on how punctuation use and misuse can really alter the meaning and intent of a written sentence, often to humorous (to a nerd) effect.
Eats Shoots and Leaves has been adapted to a younger audience, intended for those in grades 1 to 3. Here, "Eat here, and get gas," or "Eat here and get gas" really illustrates the critical importance of proper comma use!A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons. 'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. 'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.' The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'
"Eponymous"; you have an extra syllable there, m'dear. :-)
ReplyDeleteOne of my bêtes noires, inherited from a former partner, is "enormity". So many people think it means "something huge" or "the property of being huge". Popular mis-usage has forced dictionaries to list that as an alternate meaning, but in truth it means "something hugely evil or wicked"--hardly the same thing.
But my true linguistic foe is the eggcorn. I detest them and attempt to root them out wherever I encounter them. With, probably, the same general effect as my late father's crusade against purple loosestrife.
And this would explain why I tripped when typing eponymous!
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