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0 pointsJackFr6y ago0 comments

"Peruse can mean 'to read something in a relaxed way, or skim' and can also mean 'to read something carefully or in detail.' Peruse is thus a contronym because it has multiple definitions that seem contradict each other."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/peruse-usage

0 comments

maroonshifter6y ago

Yes I realized this, but this makes the word unnecessarily ambiguous and this new definition is the purely the result of enough people using the word incorrectly long enough.

We don't mean "destroy 10%" when we use the word decimate anymore, I get it. Natural language, migration of meaning, subjective denotation etc.

davidivadavid6y ago

So the normative comment should really be: avoid using "peruse" because it's ambiguous.

nawgszy6y ago

In a vacuum, perhaps, but to call it "unnecessarily ambiguous" when literally placed beside the word "skimmers" seems... intentionally dense

JackFrOP6y ago

Tell me about it. I spend tons of karma absorbing downvotes in a losing battle correcting 'enormity' and 'epicenter'

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