When I was younger--let's say fifteen years ago--I recall reading the occasional lament for the loss to the language of "gay" in its original sense. But although I recognize that it once meant something that wasn't quite merry or joyous or glad, much less happy or content, I never lived with the word in that earlier meaning and so don't particularly regret its loss.
A few days ago, however, I was trying to explain a manual operation in which the role of the fingers was important--but my describing the task as needing to be done "digitally" did not bring my audience to quite the desired comprehension.
5 comments:
[gasp!] I can't believe it. And really, gay has plenty of close-enough synonyms, but what are we going to use in place of digitally?
Sheesh. I hadn't thought about that loss. Dexterously?
I get this all the time, and sadly I can't always tell whether the obsolescence is recent or four centuries past. In fact, I got into trouble recently because of "dexterous"--or rather, because I told someone that a left-handed person can't technically be dexterous.
Would "manually" work? Or does it suggest a less-fine motor action than you mean?
RG: yeah, the digits were/are pretty crucial to the point I was trying to make. Ah well.
And I love the fact that you corrected someone's use of dexterous. I briefly dated a guy in college, with whom I was taking a Shakespeare class, who developed the habit of dropping Shakespearean tags into casual conversation. At some point he addressed me as "the fair Flavia," and when I matter-of-factly pointed out that I'm actually not fair, we got into a stupid argument wherein he patronizingly told me that I needed to learn how to accept a compliment (because I really was fair! why would I say that I wasn't?); accused me of being a pedant when I explained that, duh: I'm not blonde; and (finally) started sulking.
Maybe you were a bit unfair to your friend. Not only does Shakepeare use fair in the less-specific sense of "beautiful"; he also asserverates the "fairness" of the Dark Lady of the sonnets, and has Biron in "Love's Labours Lost" argue fairness of Rosaline, who's quite explicitly described as dark-haired and dark-complected. You were just being contentious that day, weren't you? :)
What was the point you were trying to make in class?
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