Sunday Rest: Word Not To Use Today: tycoon.

Hardly anything that starts with a tie is a good thing, especially as most of them are days which involve working.


The word tycoon, true to form, is horrible. It's a way of showing disdain for someone else's success, for a start. It also tends to imply a self-made, bullying, swaggering, sort of a person - and the hint of crooked dealings, as well.

I suppose , though, that tycoon is remarkable to get all those shades of meaning into two syllables.

And, now I come to think about it, we would be would be immeasurably the poorer if PG Wodehouse's stories featured no tycoons - from the dog-biscuit tycoon of Blandings to, as I recall, the pickle tycoon who resides at the Villa Chutney, Putney.

Perhaps tycoon is one best left to the experts, though.


Word Not To Use Today Unless You're An Expert: tycoon. This word comes to us from the Japanese taikun, from the Chinese words ta, which means great and chün, which means ruler.