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No ... really. I mean it. Think about it, and tuck the definition away in your mind behind your right ear.
Did you do it?
No?
I'm waiting ...
No. Don't look it up ... I want the definition from inside your own head.
Waiting ....
OK.
The word really has two definitions:
1. synonymous with impudent or cheeky (this is how I defined it.)
or
2. synonymous with irrelevant
The interesting thing is, if you ask a group of people what the word means, almost everyone will come up with one or the other, and will vehemently defend their position.
It almost always breaks down thusly:
Math/Science types will insist on definition #2. (irrelevant)
Literature types will insist on definition #1. (impudent)
And so far, NOBODY has said that it has two meanings.
So ... next time you're sitting around a table, and the seven-minute-conversation-lull hits, take a little survey, and feel free to let me know the results!
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2 comments:
In my house, most of the time, it would be impudent!
funny...I had 59 math credits in college, and I only thought of definition #1. Maybe I'm a literature geek at heart. I would use the phrase, "that is not pertinent," rather than the word "impertinent."
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