This month’s word is: Sericeous
Sericeous (seh-RIH-shus), adjective. It means silky, like silk, or covered with fine silky hair.
Examples:
Goodness Sophia, you really are a sericeous little minx.
Or:
The sericeous membrane hangs down to hide the opening from all but the most inquisitive eyes.
No, not a comment on the weather, but one of the main considerations for anyone trying to tighten up their writing. Good writing is all about clarity – getting your message across clearly and concisely. But in the wrong hands, words can often cloud, rather than clarify, the intended message.
Have a read of what Julian Critchlow had to say in a recent letter to The Times:
Sue Whiting, a “retired special educational needs co-ordinator”, asserts in her letter (Oct 10) that “there are likely to be 20 per cent of children in any classroom with specific learning differences”.
My initial reaction on reading this was that, surely, all the children would have learning differences: that is the human condition. However, on closer analysis I deduced that what was stated was not what was actually meant. Surely Ms Whiting’s unadorned meaning was that 20 per cent of the children would, for one reason or another, have learning difficulties.
…
Orwellian usage of this kind debases the language as a tool for expression. It leads, at best, to lack of clarity and, at worst, it is downright misleading and stifles legitimate debate. It needs to be rooted out.
Julian Critchlow, Savage Club, SW1
Hear, hear for Mr Critchlow. It’s not always easy to be honest in your writing. But if you can manage it, you’ll usually be rewarded with better understanding and more engagement from your readers.
We were sad to read about the death of composer Vic Mizzy recently. Mizzy was responsible for the irresistibly catchy theme tune for the Addams Family (you know the one: “buh-buh-buh-bump…snap-snap”)
In a piece about Mizzy on BBC Radio, however, we were quite surprised to hear the Addams Family described as a ‘dysfunctional family’, which if my memory serves me well, does them a huge disservice and is an incorrect use of the word ‘dysfunctional’.
Here at Wordsworks Towers, in the context of a family, dysfunctional would tend to mean broken, maybe violent, abusive, loveless, irresponsible… those kinds of negative characteristics.
The Addams Family may have been many things, but they were none of the above. One of the running themes of the show was the passion between Gomez and Morticia, their love for their children Wednesday and Pubert/Pugsly, the closeness between all the extended family (including Uncle Fester, Cousin It, Grandmama and, of course, Thing.) They were not abusive or violent to one another. They were not irresponsible. They always stood together as a family, supported each other and enjoyed each other’s company.
Calling them dysfunctional is not just lazy journalism, it is plain wrong. The Addams Family is one the most functional families I know.