And yet, I keep running across contemporary usage of “desultory” as a synonym for “dispirited” or “unenthusiastic,” e.g., “a desultory mood settled over over camp with the bad news,” or, the couple had a “desultory conversation,” meaning they were hardly speaking to each other, not that the subject of the conversation kept changing.
Do you think some writers wrongly assume the meaning of “desultory” because of the way the word sounds (it does sound rather dispirited when you say it)?
S F STASH:
February 22nd, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Fantastic explanation.
Just discovered [re=discovered] this website via
“desultory,” an apparently unctious and difficult
word to get a grip on.
Examples extremely helpful to gain and surround
the contextual connotation.
Etymology also extremely helpful with multiple
pathways and connections not often found.
Keep up the good work on words and totally
disregard any ongoing waffling. :-)
Mark Mahan:
February 2nd, 2014 at 8:01 am
Thank you so much! Your website is manna in the desert to me and my wife Kathryn.
We were in Costa Rica birding. Some birds were so hard to photograph because they hop from branch to branch every .2 seconds (purpose unknown). I now realize that certain subject birds are indeed desultory … and it does not mean that they are irresolute or disheveled or slutty.
Mark
Lakshman:
January 15th, 2020 at 8:25 pm
Comment 2 was quite entertaining, creative, (i.e. a new word,”unctious,” and altogether a splendid example of desultory writing.
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Richard:
June 12th, 2012 at 11:58 am
And yet, I keep running across contemporary usage of “desultory” as a synonym for “dispirited” or “unenthusiastic,” e.g., “a desultory mood settled over over camp with the bad news,” or, the couple had a “desultory conversation,” meaning they were hardly speaking to each other, not that the subject of the conversation kept changing.
Do you think some writers wrongly assume the meaning of “desultory” because of the way the word sounds (it does sound rather dispirited when you say it)?
S F STASH:
February 22nd, 2013 at 2:56 pm
Fantastic explanation.
Just discovered [re=discovered] this website via
“desultory,” an apparently unctious and difficult
word to get a grip on.
Examples extremely helpful to gain and surround
the contextual connotation.
Etymology also extremely helpful with multiple
pathways and connections not often found.
Keep up the good work on words and totally
disregard any ongoing waffling. :-)
Mark Mahan:
February 2nd, 2014 at 8:01 am
Thank you so much! Your website is manna in the desert to me and my wife Kathryn.
We were in Costa Rica birding. Some birds were so hard to photograph because they hop from branch to branch every .2 seconds (purpose unknown). I now realize that certain subject birds are indeed desultory … and it does not mean that they are irresolute or disheveled or slutty.
Mark
Lakshman:
January 15th, 2020 at 8:25 pm
Comment 2 was quite entertaining, creative, (i.e. a new word,”unctious,” and altogether a splendid example of desultory writing.