In reply to:

Not to get into a discussion of taste and the individual, but I think it would be great fun to throw this discussion to my musical theatre kids and say, "For homework, take the word eply and work it in such a way that it will sound (to you, at least) like the most beautiful word you've ever heard. Create the monologue so that your audience will be won over. Then write a monologue to show the opposite effect: eply will sound hideous and ugly so that no one would want to use it.

"Not to get into a discussion of taste and the individual"? Sorry, WW, but that's the entire point of my objection. It is the only point of my objection. I don't like the word, for the same reason that I dislike "fsck" - it's harsh, ugly and unpleasant. That is a visceral, subjective reaction. While I might eventually be persuaded of the word's objective merits (at least in the case of eply), I would likely react adversely to any attempts to manipulate or alter my subjective reaction to it. Attempts to do so carry the message that the subject's opinion is wrong, and I'm not sure I can grasp how a subjective opinion can be in error.


noho ora mai
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