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Sunday 7 October 2012

Sunday Rest: Word Not To Use Today: jejune.

I'm rather fond of the letter j, with its elegant tail and adorable dot, and this horrible word is not to be blamed on the twin j s.

Jejune (the j s are pronounced as in June, and the stress is on...well, mostly on the listener, but also on the second syllable).

It means simple, naive, dull, dry, insubstantial or barren. There we are: six much more usable words than the ghastly jejune.

The facts are simple: use the word jejune and everyone will hate you.

Got it?

Good.

Word Not To Use Today: jejune. This word crept into the language in the 1600s, presumably whilst all sensible people were looking the other way. It comes from the Latin word jējūnus, which means hungry or empty.


2 comments:

  1. Well, I've never said it aloud nor have I ever written it but can't help feeling a fondness for it. It's those elegant j's I expect.

    ReplyDelete
  2. On reflection, I think a lot of the trouble is that the word reminds me of jujubes...which is another fascinating word I must feature very soon!

    ReplyDelete

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