Favorite Phrases from Descriptive Readings
“The wind is terrific out of the west” states Dillard in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The phrase is a fantastic use of the word terrific. Terrific is usually used in describing the goodness of something such as fantastic, excellent, or great! This use of the word really catches the eye and makes the phrase flow in way that it would not otherwise. If it said the wind is strong out of the west, then the phrase would be lacking in the flower and flow.
This is another classic example of a word that has changed drastically over time. Here is what M-W has for the etymology of “terrific”:
> Etymology: Latin terrificus, from terrEre to frighten
And, strangely, M-W’s first definition is this:
> 1 a : very bad : FRIGHTFUL b : exciting or fit to excite fear or awe
This is the definition Dillard was using, but it’s very obscure in English today.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/19 at 09:12 AMThis log is absolutley “terrific”! Just kidding, but seriously, I never knew so much was behind just one word. This word obviously has “layers”.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/27 at 08:00 PM
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