There have been many articles, blogs and rants about words people hate. Moist usually tops the charts although I’ve heard a good bit about panties. I have a word I now immensely dislike and it’s not because it sounds strange or makes people uncomfortable.
Peruse is an intelligent sounding word. It is not close to any words we considered profane or unpleasant. You hear it quite often in pop culture mediums. The problem is that I’ve only heard one pop culture medium use it properly (Gilmore Girls). I got into a argument with most of a writing workshop in college because the writer was using ‘peruse’ correctly; both the dictionary and I were wrong.
Back when Gilmore Girls aired and I was in college, peruse only had one meaning: to examine or read in a very careful manner. If you were perusing, you were reading in detail and with focus. Around the same time I read an article about lexicographers (dictionary writers) that made a point how language is a constantly changing and evolving thing. (They also universally hate the word irregardless but that’s a fun non sequitur.)
Peruse has been modified to have two meanings. The one above and “to look at or read in an informal or relaxed way.” Peruse has meant the latter to most people for as long as I can remember. It still maintains its original meaning as well as its common usage meaning the two definitions are completely contradictory.
I cannot abide a word with a contradictory definition and it is henceforth stricken from my vocabulary. I’ve always considered peruse to be like bemuse, it never quite sounded like what it meant. It won’t be too long before it no longer means to read thoroughly. I can live with a word changing over time due to popular usage but until it makes up its mind, I’ll decipher and examine or skim and flip through.
Music: Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Reverse Osmosis
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