miércoles, 3 de septiembre de 2008

Logomaquia

Logomaquia: Discusión en que se atiende a las palabras y no al fondo del asunto.

Verdaderamente genial la palabra logomaquia, especialmente dado la extraordinaria frecuencia con la que uno entra, o está en presencia de, una logomaquia. Es una de esas palabras complicadas que me parece relativamente fácil de usar en una oración, por ejemplo: "La discusión descendió rapidamente a una logomaquia", ó "Podemos dejar la logomaquia y discutir el asunto por Dios". Pero si uno tristemente se encuentra en una logomaquia, es cierto que es excelente poder insultar a las personas sin que que se den cuenta hasta más tarde, o en el caso de las palabras que siguen, busquen la palabra en cuestión en el diccionario:

Verbiage:
a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content.

Nuestra muy querida verborrea, simplemente que me gusta la sonoridad de la palabra en inglés. Ocurre tanto que corre riesgo de gastarse si uno la usa cada vez que se merece.

Asinine:
extremely or utterly foolish; of, relating to, or resembling an ass

La versión en adjetivo de una burrada, existe en castellano como asinino pero no tiene el primer significado. Verdaderamente multiuso, se puede referir a un comentario, un escrito, una acción, una idea, y a personas.

Drab: prostitute; to associate with prostitutes; characterized by dullness and monotony.

Ahora que me pongo a pensar es la única palabra que me viene a mente que es adjetivo, sustantivo y verbo al mismo tiempo. En cualquiera de sus modalidades se puede usar como insulto, en cuanto a la modalidad sustantivo es obvio cómo, como verbo se puede usar para insultar tanto a la persona con que se está hablando como a las personas que trata, y el adjetivo, que es el que conocía yo antes de buscarlo en el diccionario, puede describir a casi todo: gente, acciones, objetos y lugares.

Inefable: Que no se puede explicar con palabras.

Especialmente útil en su modalidad adverbiada inefablemente, de todas formas se puede usar como respuesta a cantidad de preguntas. ¿Qué tal es Fulanito?: inefable; ¿Qué tal estuvo?: inefable; ¿Qué tal es ese libro?: inefable. Eso sí, su significado depende indudablemente del tono en que se usa.

Bete noire: refers to someone or something unwanted or even hated, a pet peeve or strong annoyance.

Viene del francés, que le da cierta sofisticación, pero el significado es todo menos sutil. Todos tenemos una o múltiples betes noires, y es altamente probable que la primera vez que se use la persona en cuestión piense que es un halago.

1 comentario:

Anónimo dijo...

Li said that if carriers have consistent delays over certain routes, the regulator will stop them from flying those routes. The administration defines a flight delay as the plane failing to take off within 30 minutes of the hatch closing. [url=http://www.fasopromo.com/right.asp?jordan-11-for-sale/]jordan 11 for sale[/url] Magnotta, who fled to Europe before the body was discovered, spent a few days partying in Paris before moving on to Berlin, where he was caught last month as he read stories about himself at an Internet cafe. He did not contest his extradition from Germany and arrived in Montreal last month on a Canadian military plane. [url=http://www.ezelsoortje.com/2011/upload/list.php?nike-free-5-0-v4/]nike free 5.0 v4[/url] The president of Asia's newest and poorest country plays little role in policy but is vital in projecting stability after a bloody struggle that led to independence in 2002 and scattered violence around parliamentary elections in 2007. [url=http://www.thewomensinvestmentclub.com.au/online.php?louis-vuitton-handbags/]louis vuitton handbags[/url] The court had allowed the marines to leave India in February to vote in Italian elections and to celebrate Easter. Though capable of launching attacks on missiles, aircraft and approaching vessels, the defense ministry says the carrier will mainly be used for research, experiments and training.

The Chinese side is concerned by the developments and strongly encourages everyone involved on all sides, at high and low levels, to remain calm and reasonable, Yang told reporters. "These issues need to be worked out in a diplomatic and peaceful manner." [url=http://www.gautampublicschoolpilani.com/job.asp?cheap-jordans/]cheap jordans[/url] The remaining 20 percent was divided among other popular destinations such as Europe, Singapore and Malaysia, and new favorites Japan and South Korea. [url=http://www.ayurvedamana.com/fonts.php?louis-vuitton-bag/]louis vuitton bag[/url] OLDER people who take vitamin D and calcium supplements may live a bit longer than their peers, according to an international review of several studies covering more than 70,000 people. [url=http://www.romigallery.com/login.asp?cheap-nba-jerseys/]cheap nba jerseys[/url] VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez was re-elected yesterday, taking 54.42 percent of the vote as he saw off the challenge of opposition rival Henrique Capriles, the National Electoral Council said, citing near-complete results. [url=http://www.akdenizaydinlatma.com/images/kargo.asp?uggs-on-sale/]uggs on sale[/url] Jaime Escalante retired from teaching in nineteen ninety-eight and later moved back to Bolivia with his wife. He died earlier this year. He was seventy-nine years old.

White collars working in the Lujiazui skyscrapers have long complained about the long walk to the Metro station and other buildings. [url=http://www.jmapilani.org/press.asp?nike-free-3-0/]nike free 3.0[/url] Now they only need to carry one card on them to get discounts at various venues including the restaurants, gyms, hair salons and shopping malls in Pudong, she said. [url=http://www.cwgwindows.com/pics/last.php?ショルダーバッグ-レディース/]ショルダーバッグ レディース[/url] The court ruled the house was responsible and ordered it to pay compensation. [url=http://www.alglobe.com/user.php?titanium-rings/]titanium rings[/url] We walked about 30 minutes to take the line because there's no direct bus line, said a couple, on boarding the terminal in Jiading's Jinyun Road station. Residents found the bus lines lack from their communities, mainly budget-home projects, to the Metro stations. The man blew himself up inside the vehicle on a busy road on the outskirts of the city in central Syria, the SANA news agency said. It blamed terrorists, the term it uses to describe rebel forces trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.