Have you ever noticed that whenever a person says "Oh, how droll!", what they really mean is "Oh, how boring and stupid!"?
It amazes me that this word is still defined as "humorous". I bet that in 2108, all the dictionaries will define "droll" as "humorless", because that's the way people use the word nowadays.
Well, it's hard for me to describe, mollusque, but what I'm looking for are words which are never used literally, but only ironically. In all my life I've never heard "droll" used literally -- every single usage I've heard has been ironic.
It fascinates me that this is possible. Irony only makes sense if you know the literal meaning of the word you're using ironically. With the literal meaning of "droll" being pretty much dead, how is it that we're still able to use it ironically and be understood?
I think it depends whether you like drollness. Some people find it clever and cute, others find it stupid and cloying. OED2 recognizes two senses of droll: "Intentionally facetious, amusing, comical, funny" and "Unintentionally amusing; queer, quaint, odd, strange, 'funny'."
I use the droll tag here — and the word more widely — quite sincerely, covering both those two senses, I suppose (I'd not looked it up or thought about it before, but it does match my usage of the term): never as an insult, mild or otherwise. It does carry a connotation of recognition of a rather bad joke, but I have a lot of love for those.
In my experience "droll" still means humorous or amusing. It's sometimes the case that the word is applied with a condescending tone, as if the speaker is acknowledging the humour but doesn't quite want to admit to finding it funny. (This, I think, is very different from using the word to mean boring, stupid or humourless.)
But mostly I hear it used (when I hear it used) to acknowledge what the Shorter OED calls dry, whimsical humour, odd or unexpected. And in that context it is perhaps the greatest compliment to describe such humour as "droll" rather than the more mundane and less accurate "funny".
I really don't recall hearing/reading the usage that pterodactyl describes. Perhaps I should get out more
One of the reasons "droll" is a good candidate for this list IMO is because one can almost always hear the invisible air quotes (those guillemets or guillemots or Gänsefüsschen) the speaker places around them.
I think "quaint" is a candidate for much the same reason. Certainly, when used in the phrase "How quaint", the implied meaning is almost always pejorative.
But does pejorative use of quaint actually require a change of meaning (strange, old-fashioned)?
The difference, as mollusque suggested re droll, is whether you like/approve of quaintness or not, and it emerges in tone of voice and context without implying a new meaning.
"While we were away we saw this quaint little cottage! It was so cute, I wanted to bring it home and put it in my garden and hire a hermit."
vs
"How quaint." Spoken with disdainful air and curled lip.
Whereas the usage pterodactyl cites for "droll" really does require the speaker to mean the opposite of the word itself.
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Have you ever noticed that whenever a person says "Oh, how droll!", what they really mean is "Oh, how boring and stupid!"?
It amazes me that this word is still defined as "humorous". I bet that in 2108, all the dictionaries will define "droll" as "humorless", because that's the way people use the word nowadays.
Unless irony doesn't work like that.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
I'm trying to find other words that have undergone the same transformation, but I can't think of any.
April 10, 2008
Prolagus commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
We all will think about that, ter.
April 10, 2008
chained_bear commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Hmm... I haven't heard people using droll in that sense... It's unfortunate, because it's quite a nice word, IMO.
April 10, 2008
mollusque commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Are you searching for that precise shift--humorous to boring--or just general worsening in meaning? If the latter, try searching for pejoration.
April 10, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Well, it's hard for me to describe, mollusque, but what I'm looking for are words which are never used literally, but only ironically. In all my life I've never heard "droll" used literally -- every single usage I've heard has been ironic.
It fascinates me that this is possible. Irony only makes sense if you know the literal meaning of the word you're using ironically. With the literal meaning of "droll" being pretty much dead, how is it that we're still able to use it ironically and be understood?
April 10, 2008
mollusque commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
I think it depends whether you like drollness. Some people find it clever and cute, others find it stupid and cloying. OED2 recognizes two senses of droll: "Intentionally facetious, amusing, comical, funny" and "Unintentionally amusing; queer, quaint, odd, strange, 'funny'."
April 10, 2008
sarra commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Oh, no!
I use the droll tag here — and the word more widely — quite sincerely, covering both those two senses, I suppose (I'd not looked it up or thought about it before, but it does match my usage of the term): never as an insult, mild or otherwise. It does carry a connotation of recognition of a rather bad joke, but I have a lot of love for those.
I could write a lot more about droll humour…
April 10, 2008
yarb commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
I have cited a non-ironic usage of droll. But I know what you mean, pterodactyl. You don't see it much these days.
April 10, 2008
frindley commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
In my experience "droll" still means humorous or amusing. It's sometimes the case that the word is applied with a condescending tone, as if the speaker is acknowledging the humour but doesn't quite want to admit to finding it funny. (This, I think, is very different from using the word to mean boring, stupid or humourless.)
But mostly I hear it used (when I hear it used) to acknowledge what the Shorter OED calls dry, whimsical humour, odd or unexpected. And in that context it is perhaps the greatest compliment to describe such humour as "droll" rather than the more mundane and less accurate "funny".
I really don't recall hearing/reading the usage that pterodactyl describes. Perhaps I should get out more
April 12, 2008
sionnach commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
One of the reasons "droll" is a good candidate for this list IMO is because one can almost always hear the invisible air quotes (those guillemets or guillemots or Gänsefüsschen) the speaker places around them.
I think "quaint" is a candidate for much the same reason. Certainly, when used in the phrase "How quaint", the implied meaning is almost always pejorative.
April 12, 2008
frindley commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
But does pejorative use of quaint actually require a change of meaning (strange, old-fashioned)?
The difference, as mollusque suggested re droll, is whether you like/approve of quaintness or not, and it emerges in tone of voice and context without implying a new meaning.
"While we were away we saw this quaint little cottage! It was so cute, I wanted to bring it home and put it in my garden and hire a hermit."
vs
"How quaint." Spoken with disdainful air and curled lip.
Whereas the usage pterodactyl cites for "droll" really does require the speaker to mean the opposite of the word itself.
April 12, 2008
frindley commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
Perhaps we need a list of positively defined words that have come to be used pejoratively (with or without a shift in meaning).
That might solve pterodactyl's conundrum regarding irony and its dependence on knowledge of a word's real meaning.
April 12, 2008
sarra commented on the list words-that-are-only-ever-used-ironically
ach! unique?!
April 12, 2008