DH and I lately have been discussing words and the sorts of words people choose to use when there are several appropriate words available. We’re both Douglas Adams fan and he never used 1-2 words if 5-6 were possible. I am currently reading books by Edmund Crispin written in the 1940s & 50s and they are Very Wordy Indeed. They seem to be written on the principle of never use a two syllable word if a 4 syllable one is available. They are common garden variety murder mysteries, not ‘literature’ btw. They are a blog post unto themselves (coming soon)
Anyway since the topic of word choice was on his mind, last night he related the following anecdote about his boss:
Boss came into DH’s office that morning and said “I’m aggravated I lost my favorite money clip. I’ve had it for years.”
DH agreed that losing a favorite item is aggravating.
Boss says “Yeah, I really liked that money clip.” then as an afterthought he adds “It had $600 in it”
So my question to you all today is…. Would ‘aggravating’ be the word you chose to describe the loss of a favorite money clip with $600 in it? If not, what word would you use?
Catastrophic comes to my mind.
