Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Why do we use the word "obtuse" to indicate narrow-mindedness? An obtuse angle is one with more than 90 degrees, but less than 180, whereas an acute angle is just less than 90. Obtuse would be more open, not closed, and therefore acute would be a better descriptor of narrow-mindedness.
Obtuse means "annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand" not narrow minded ("not willing to listen to or tolerate other people's views").
Root:
Origin of OBTUSE
Middle English, from Latin obtusus blunt, dull, from past participle of obtundere to beat against, blunt, from ob- against + tundere to beat — more at ob-, contusion
First Known Use: 15th century
No, the largest blunder (with people using a word to mean its opposite) is moot.
Moot means debatable, or open to debate. Something that is moot is something worth debating.
But every day people use "moot" to refer to something that can't be debated, isn't worth debating, or that would be pointless if it were debated.
They say "that point is moot" and they usually mean it's a closed issue, not worth any discussion. But look up the definition of moot, and the origins of the word. It means the opposite: an open issue very worthy of discussion.
The largest blunder is the use of the word "liberal," to refer to collectivism. "Liberal" obviously shares the same root as "liberty" and at one time referenced enlightenment values such as Lockean individual liberty and Smithian economic liberty. Now it means, in the common parlance, big government and decision-making in the hands of the collective rather than the individual.
Some use the term "classical liberal" to distinguish between the new meaning and old, but an adjective should not be able to modify a noun such that the noun now means the opposite of itself. That is the biggest blunder.
The biggest blunder is that sanctions means punishment yet sanctioned means allowance.
Yes! that's a good one. It seems like when something is "sanctioned" it can mean that it's officially allowed, or just the opposite, officially condemned and punished.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
