"Fortuitous" means "by accident," not "fortunate."
"Compendious" means "concise," not "fully elaborated."
"Fulsome" means "excessive," "adulatory," not "full" or "complete."
And "begs the question" means "assumes what is to be proved," it does not mean "begs to be asked."
Oh, by the way, "penultimate" does not mean "to the nth degree." It means "next to last ."
Now, is that so hard?
While we're at it, how about: free reign; diffuse/defuse; baited breath; hone in on; pouring over documents; towing the party line; prescribe/proscribe; sleight of hand; compliment/complement; toting up the bill. Et setter.
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry. Meant "slight of hand."
ReplyDelete"Disinterested" means "impartial," not "uninterested".
ReplyDelete"Hopefully" means "With hope," not "It is to be hoped." (I propose: "Hopably")
Hmmm, I might think that "by fortune" or "by chance" is slightly better for "fortuitous" than "by accident". Perhaps all can be changed in some circumstances, but not all, and when not, I think "by accident" no longer means "fortuitous". But, maybe others will disagree.
ReplyDeleteOn "fulsome", just think of a woman described in some slightly old-fashioned book as having a "fulsome bosom" and the idea becomes clear.
I'm completely with you on "begs the question", but fear it may be a loosing battle at this point.