10 ms·
"puzzling than pellucid" Pellucid might be cromullant but it ain't pervasive. I have never heard that word and I've heard quite a few. If I had to guess: it
by gerdesj 24d ago
"puzzling than pellucid"
Pellucid might be cromullant but it ain't pervasive. I have never heard that word and I've heard quite a few. If I had to guess: it might be American (US) in situ wankery only, for the use of.
Might be wrong.
- pbhjpbhj 24d agoHarford, the author of the OC, is a learned man of at least middle-age (sorry!). He has been a journalist for decades. I suspect he may have had an education including Latin (per-lucid => pellucid) making that word choice far more natural. But really it's a poetic pairing of punchy adjectives amplified by alliteration! I'm a fan of his work generally. This piece landed well with me, I like to read less used vocabulary too. So often I can't express myself naturally because people don't share my word sense; it's liberating to release those bounds when writing for a more academic audience; as Hartford clearly was here. I did spot an error: >soldier a rifle They mean shoulder, of course. Surprised if a newspaper editor or personal spellchecker missed that; perhaps it was left in as bait for social media comments!? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Harford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Harford
- SoftTalker 24d ago> But really it's a poetic pairing of punchy adjectives amplified by alliteration! Silence! You bubble-headed boobie! -- Dr. Smith
- ahazred8ta 23d agoJonathan Harris gave an interview where he described the suit-wearing stuntman Bob May as "A very strange individual, even by the standards of the 1960s. Whenever I said 'you bubble-headed booby', I wasn't talking to the robot."