51吃瓜

Enormity

Sometimes, words become misconstrued and thus misused over time. What鈥檚 the enormity of the problem? Well, maybe, it鈥檚 not a problem, but simply an opportunity to refine our lexicon?

However, enormity isn鈥檛 the right word to describe this situation. Like all the words on today鈥檚 list, enormity鈥檚 primary definition isn鈥檛 what you think. Enormity has come to mean 鈥渉ugeness鈥� or 鈥渋mmensity,鈥� like听enormousness, but it actually means 鈥渁trociousness.鈥� The enormity of a person鈥檚 act is the heinousness, not the scale, of the action.

Click ahead for more surprising definitions of commonly confused words. 听

Redundant

Maybe it鈥檚 the re- prefix that makes it so easy to mistakenly pair redundant with repetitive. It also doesn鈥檛 help that the word sounds like 鈥渞e-done-dant,鈥� as in 鈥淚鈥檝e already done that, so I don鈥檛 need to redo it.鈥� Rather than 鈥渞edoing,鈥� redundant relates to 鈥渙ver-doing.鈥�

Tracing back to its medieval origins, redundant means 鈥渙verflowing鈥� in Latin. A good example of听redundant can refer to writing, especially when it is verbose, overwrought, and tedious. And with that, we鈥檒l move on to our next slide.

Travesty

鈥淭hat poor boy lost his father. What a travesty.鈥� Many people would understand the speaker to mean tragedy, because the loss of a loved one is a tragic circumstance. However, travesty is not a synonym for tragedy, and the distinction between the terms is well worth remembering. Travesty means 鈥渁 grotesque or debased likeness or imitation.鈥� For those who understand this meaning, misusing travesty in place of tragedy could result in seriously offending the listener.

However, if someone鈥檚 in a sham of a relationship, you could describe it as a travesty and tragedy and be just fine. Hopefully, it鈥檚 not you!

Chronic

People often confuse chronic with acute or severe when describing painful symptoms. A chronic condition may be accompanied by sharp or acute pain, but not necessarily so. Related to the Greek chronos (鈥渢ime鈥�) and chronikos (鈥渃oncerning time鈥�), chronic means 鈥渃onstant,鈥� 鈥渃ontinual,鈥� 鈥渓asting a long time,鈥� and 鈥渞ecurring frequently.鈥� Chronic and acute are commonly used in a medical context, but they have more general applications as well. If a lover鈥檚 tryst resulted in heartbreak, the emotional pain would be acute at first, but it would go away over time. A chronic controversy is an issue still in need of resolution, such as many political debates about marriage and birth control.

Disinterested

Disinterested is a usual suspect in the lineup of easily-confused words. The dis– prefix invokes both the hardened sense of 鈥渘ot interested鈥� (as in disapprove, dislike) and 鈥渄issing鈥� (disparage, dismiss). But, the primary definition of this word is actually unrelated to the expression of selfish, negative emotions. In fact, it鈥檚 associated with the state of being unbiased, or 鈥渘ot influenced by selfish motives.鈥�

A disinterested person may very well be interested and curious about a matter at hand, but he or she doesn鈥檛 wish to take sides with the issue or show prejudice through personal motivations. For clarity, a person who doesn鈥檛 take an interest in something is simply 鈥渘ot interested.鈥�

i.e. / e.g.

More confusing than Stephen Hawking鈥檚 theories, i.e. and e.g. take the cake of this slideshow.

In Latin, i.e. stands for id est, meaning 鈥渢hat is.鈥� It is used whenever you want to restate听(in different words) the point you鈥檙e trying to make. Think of i.e. as in other words and use the i in in to remember how to use it. 鈥淢y stomach is making growling sounds, i.e., (鈥�in other words鈥�) I鈥檓 hungry.鈥�

And, e.g. stands for exempli gratia, or 鈥渇or the sake of example.鈥� You can remember how to use this correctly by thinking of 鈥�example give,鈥� the strange-sounding reverse of 鈥済ive [an] example.鈥� 鈥淢y stomach is making growling sounds, e.g., (鈥渇or example鈥�) gurgles, plops, swishes, and bleets.鈥�

Ironic

Oddly enough (or is it ironic?), Alanis Morissette鈥檚 song 鈥淚ronic鈥� contains no irony. Maybe that鈥檚 the point. However, 鈥淚ronic鈥� leads people who seek meaning and truth in lyrics (especially just at a surface level) to mistake coincidence, bad luck, and worse luck for irony. Odd coinky-dinks aren鈥檛 ironic, nor is every twist of fate.

Instead, an ironic statement is one where literal words are used to convey an opposite meaning, i.e., (see what we did here) saying one thing but implying something else. If Sunny, who only adores warm weather, walks outside in the freezing cold and exclaims, 鈥淥h, how I love beautiful days like this!鈥� . . . that鈥檚 ironic.