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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: you are entitled to your opinion. Any adjective can be ;used with any ;noun. But in this case, the word just does not fit. Peremptory implies authority, the power to punish severely for non-compliance. Boys can be demanding, they may tgreateb to run away from home, or something like that. Peremptory to me is Clint Eastwood saying:"Make my day...." Bill
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear wwh, It's not really my opinion. I'm just reading a specific definition and its applied examples pubished in dictionaries. If boys can be 'imperious' then by extension they could be peremptory in that application of that precise definition. And what was the problem with the usage example from Shakespeare by the way? Here's a quote Anu published: "And we're provided with mini-narratives familiar even to those with only a passing knowledge of Russian history: the woman who stands day after day outside the political prison in the frigid cold, hoping to catch a glimpse of her husband; the collisions with the imperious and peremptory bureaucrats. --Jim Shepard, "Dead Souls," New York Times, September 26, 1999" I would agree with you, wwh, that peremptory is generally used as a word describing a manner and not immediately describing people. But I disagree that the word is strictly limited in describing manner, tone, etc. Peremptory is a perfectly acceptable synonym for haughty, imperious, and other equivalent words. I suspect that if I were to google it and begin the arduous task of checking out its applications, most would either be legal or descriptions of manner. But there would also be some perfectly acceptable applications of peremptory describing some haughty, dog-determined person or persons. Even little boys.
Edit: wwh, I've had a little fun trying an advanced search on Google. I've learned how to avoid including certain terms by using the minus sign, something I wasn't aware of before thinking about peremptory and its applications. Here's another quote with peremptory applied immediately to a person: "As for Mr. Craft's preference for "among" where Eliot has "between," his confidence that all that is in question is an "elementary blunder" should not survive Oxford English Dictionary V. 19: "In all senses, between has been, from its earliest appearance, extended to more than two." Even Dr. Johnson was less peremptory than Mr. Craft: "Between is properly used of two, and among of more; but perhaps this accuracy is not always preserved." http://www.nybooks.com/articles/8790
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>Even little boys.
...or OP. <g>
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I've always attached an element of finality to "peremptory." No argument, no eplanation; it's the abrupt end of the discussion. That's where the authority enters the picture: the author has made the decision, and that's that. It describes the lawyer's peremptory challenge perfectly.
And that's my last word on the subject!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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If people can be said to have a peremptory manner or to speak peremptorily, then I guess you can apply the adjective directly to the person. However, I do tend to agree with Bill that the usage is a little odd. I don't think that it implies any real authority, merely assumed authority. Of course, a person acting peremptorily may well have the authority to back up his or her manner, but I don't think it's a requirement. Think of a two-year-old digging his heels in. "No! Won't!" Peremptory, yes, authorative, no way.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thing is: Believing something doesn't necessarily make it so, Cap. And, odd-sounding or not, according to the many dictionaries I've looked into since wwh brought this topic up, peremptory can be correctly applied directly as a description of a person. There are many examples included in various dictionaries, and I've noted several of those above. This is not to say that peremptory may sit better in many people's minds as a description of manner. Peremptory manners are all fine and well--and sometimes annoying. But it is completely acceptable to describe a person as being peremptory, whether that usage sounds odd and unacceptable to your, wwh's, or anybody else's ear.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I see no way to determine what "peremptory" meant to Henry James. I still think it a preposterous word to describe two small boys in the era when "children were to be seen, but not heard".
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Aaaargh! I said it seems an odd usage, meaning I've not heard it used that way. I did NOT say it was incorrect or even imply that it was. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sorry, Cap. I'm battling here a matter of clarity. Your opinion is your own and I enjoy your opinions on a variety of matters. But because your opinion carries a lot of weight, I just wanted to steer us back to dictionaries. C'est tout.
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