{"id":318,"date":"2015-04-06T14:01:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-06T21:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?p=318"},"modified":"2016-04-27T15:55:26","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T22:55:26","slug":"words-that-dont-work-nonplus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/words-that-dont-work-nonplus\/","title":{"rendered":"Words That Don\u2019t Work: Nonplus"},"content":{"rendered":"

I believe that a person with a basic understanding of the language ought to be able to understand content published for the general population<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 even if they encounter a word they haven\u2019t seen before. Obviously, text books, scientific articles, philosophical debates, and the such are likely to contain words that will send the reader to a dictionary \u2013 I\u2019m talking about mass market reading material here.<\/p>\n

Several years ago, I started running across a word that just didn\u2019t fit for me. While it came into being several centuries ago, it seems to have recently surged in popularity amongst the authors that I read. The word nonplus (and its adjective form, nonplussed) strikes me as the epitome (a word I love) of unclear communication.<\/p>\n

So that we are all in the same place, let\u2019s use the example sentence:<\/p>\n

Nonplussed by the news that her sister was now her brother, Sylvia turned around and walked away.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m reading and come across an unfamiliar word, I\u2019m likely to skip over it because I understand what the sentence is saying if not all the actual words. If that doesn\u2019t work, or if the word keeps popping up, then I tend to look at the word itself. I have more than a basic understanding of the language, I\u2019m reading a mass market publication, I can figure out the word.<\/p>\n

Nonplus, in my mind that means negative.<\/strong><\/span> Non for Not, Plus for Positive, not positive = negative. Contextually, that never worked.<\/p>\n

\"Emoticon<\/a>
To me, this is what “nonplussed” looks like.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OK, so let\u2019s add context. Authors use nonplussed when describing someone\u2019s reaction to something. So, if literally the word ought to mean \u201cnegative,\u201d then I think of poor or sedate reactions; words like nonchalant, indifferent, and composed come to mind.<\/p>\n

With all that in mind, I read the example sentence as Sylvia always knew her sister had gender issues, so of course she (now he) had the surgery.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m wrong. I know I\u2019m wrong, but that\u2019s still my first take.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say that from our reading, we know that Sylvia is actually a shrew with homophobic tendencies, my instinctual read does not work.<\/p>\n

I finally had to look up the word. Imagine my shock and confusion when I read that nonplussed means surprised.<\/p>\n

Surprise is not a negative or sedate reaction. And, \u201cnonplussed\u201d is not active enough for unpleasant surprises.<\/p>\n

Writing this, I rechecked three online dictionaries for nonplus, their results:<\/p>\n