Hapax Legomena
Though she graduated from one of the nation's top universities and then a top law school, my dear sister Jennifer is a woman of few words, especially when only a few are needed. So when I got her email the other morning shortly after posting a SetonnoteS, I knew I was in trouble. "Did you mean 'enervating?'" she asked. Aaarrrggghhh! I knew I didn't.
For some reason I had lodged in those leetle grey cells the notion that the word meant enlivening, when it means rather the opposite. According to my Bookshelf dictionary, the definition is "To weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of" and that's exactly what I didn't mean. I was referring to the lighted Christmas figures that were displayed by the Monterey Hyatt, to cheer not to depress. There was no way I could reconstrue what I was trying to say, no way to bend the definition; no way, uh-uh, now how. And it's not the first time that I've misused the word; more angst.
But surely you can understand my confusion. I mean, it sounds like it should be an up word, doesn't it? Alas. It's like approbation, which sounds like it should be a negative, like opprobrium, but in fact it means "An expression of warm approval; praise." I more than once used the word when I instead meant disapprobation, including in a letter many years ago to M. Scott Peck. He never replied, though probably not because he saw from the context that I had errer.
These kind of mistakes are especially galling to a self-styled wordsmythe. It's bad enough that I make typos with the regularity of an over-fibered typist, but to actually have planted a bad seed in my data bank is particularly irksome. I know that there are some programs out there that catch words that don't fit into context, but they wouldn't catch most of my errors. The meaning of so many words can go either way, and besides, I use a lot of words that aren't in a dictionary but make obvious sense. When I spell them correctly.
As mentioned in this space before, one of the few regular e-offerings for which I'm signed up is Word-A-Day, which sends me a new word and new quote every day. Most of the words I am at least somewhat familiar with, or I find them so obscure I don't think I'll ever use them. The quotes are almost always wonderful, and those I save and frequently serve back to my hungry public.
An example of one of the obscure words (or phrase) that I wouldn't likely use but am herein is hapax legomenon* which is defined as "A word or form that has only one recorded use." An example of the phrase was from Linda Tripp requoted by William Safire when she referred to Bill Clinton as a "schwonk." I haven't a clue what the word means, although I would hazard a guess that it might be a conjunction of schmuck and wonk.
I proudly own up to using hapax legomena, but for the most part my words make sense in context...when I use and spell them correctly.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
* hapax legomenon (HAY-paks li-GOM-uh-non) plural hapax legomena; from Greek hapax (once) + legomenon, from legein (to say)
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