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In another forum someone said of Obama's acceptance speech: "And Mr. Eloquence and Inspirational Orator made one of the most common and egregious errors in his vocabulary!" I have read the transcript and am wondering what this egregious error could be. Anybody?
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Probably his use of the word enormity, but, if by egregious, the complainer means 'out of the herd' that's probably just as questionable. The use of enormity to mean 'enormousness' or 'immensity', while rejected by some, is fairly common.
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I want to see the volumes this person has had to have written about Bush...
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"Errors in his vocabulary" doesn't strike me as a correct use of "vocabulary".
If I read the wrong book, are there errors in my library?
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I want to see the volumes this person has had to have written about Bush... The person who made the comment voted for Obama. I omitted that because my question was just about language not politics.
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Probably his use of the word enormity, but, if by egregious, the complainer means 'out of the herd' that's probably just as questionable. The use of enormity to mean 'enormousness' or 'immensity', while rejected by some, is fairly common. Thanks Faldage I missed that. Interesting to see the OED say Excess in magnitude; hugeness, vastness. Obs.; recent examples might perh. be found, but the use is now regarded as incorrect.
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I want to see the volumes this person has had to have written about Bush... The person who made the comment voted for Obama. I omitted that because my question was just about language not politics. My post had no political intent or connotation, and for whom s/he voted doesn't matter to me. I was referring to the fact that Bush is infamous for his self-contradiction and extremely poor command of the English language, about which volumes actually have been written.
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I want to see the volumes this person has had to have written about Bush... The person who made the comment voted for Obama. I omitted that because my question was just about language not politics. My post had no political intent or connotation, and for whom s/he voted doesn't matter to me. I was referring to the fact that Bush is infamous for his self-contradiction and extremely poor command of the English language, about which volumes actually have been written. Yes i think thats why the person I quoted made the comment. To them Obamas "gaffe" was notable because of his reputation for oratory and mastery of English, two things of which Bush would never be accused.
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Excess in magnitude; hugeness, vastness. Obs.
Yes, the normative grammarians want it both ways: e.g., decimate etymological and nearly extinct meaning, but enormity's newer one. (That is the Other is always wrong, grammatically speaking.)
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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A. thought "green behind the ears" in one of those debates sounded pretty goofy.  Are any points deducted for lying or does only vocabulary count?
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