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Sunday 12 February 2017

Sunday Rest: disintermediate. Word Not To Use Today.

To mediate means to put yourself between quarrelling people or factions in an attempt to get them to agree - or, at least, to stop quarrelling.

To intermediate means...hang on, that's the same thing, isn't it (though of course you can also use intermediate as an adjective to mean in-between).

So, disintermediate: that must mean to get yourself out of the way so that the opposing forces can smash each other to pieces, yes?

Well, not exactly. It's used in finance to describe getting rid of the middle men such as banks and brokers. 

It might even be a good idea - but it's still a rubbish word.

Isn't it.

Word Not To Use Today: disintermediate. This word comes from the Latin mediāre, to be in the middle.


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