Risible

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Dr. Goodword
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Risible

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Apr 12, 2015 10:33 pm

• risible •

Pronunciation: riz-ê-bêl • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: 1. Laughable, humorous, causing laughter. 2. Easily amused, easily made to laugh, given to laughter.

Notes: We should keep in mind three things at all times. (1) Human beings are the only risible creatures, the only species that laughs. (2) We begin when we are only 3-4 months old. (3) It has now been scientifically established that the more we laugh, the longer and healthier lives we live. The adverb for today's word is risibly and the noun, risibility.

In Play: Today's Good Word goes two ways: it means to make people laugh or laugh a lot ourselves. In the first sense, we may say, "Oh, that risible Irish darling Beryl O'Laughs keeps everyone in stitches all the time." This sense also applies to objects: "That electric fork was the most risible idea you have ever come up with." The alternate sense works in: "I am afraid that I am entirely too risible to follow the US primary campaigns this year."

Word History: Risible is another word picked up from French. The French inherited it from Latin risibilis, the adjective of risus "laughed", the past participle of ridere "to laugh." This root did not spread evenly throughout the Indo-European languages. It shows up in Sanskrit vridyati "is ashamed". Otherwise, it seems limited to the Romance languages, where we find Spanish risible, Italian risibile, and Portuguese risível. The root does turn up in a few other English words borrowed from Latin, including ridiculous, deride, and riant "merry, jovial". (Today we need to thank the good humor and risible minds of Mark Bailey and Jan Arps for this very happy Good Word.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

George Kovac

Re: Risible

Postby George Kovac » Mon Apr 13, 2015 10:49 am

George Will, the veteran conservative columnist, has often been a very fine writer in his long career. He sprinkles his prose with a high falutin vocabluary, sometimes to good effect, sometimes just to show off his erudition. "Condign," "dudgeon" and "ukase" are favorites of his, words which can send uninitiated readers to the dictionary. Not a bad thing, but pretension in writing is a dubious virtue.

As Will has aged, the first of his senses to decline was humor. A big vocabulary in the hands of a bitter writer is not a good thing. Another of Will's signature words is "risible." It is a great word, fun to hear, and delightful in its meanings. But Will uses the word in a sense other that the definitions ascribed by Dr. Goodword or other lexicographers. Will uses "risible" as a pejorative meaning "ludicrous," as when he is criticizing ideas with which he disagrees. Here is a typical example from one of Will's columns: "Iran’s claim that its nuclear program is for power generation and medical uses is risible." [Note to readers: the substance of Will's observation is not my topic, which is limited to the propriety of his use of the word "risible." This is not a political forum.]

Pushing the meanings of words at their verges is often a positive and creative process that expands understanding, communication and metaphoric appreciation, and is one of the reasons the English language continues to grow and blossom. But Will should stick with "laughable" or "ludicrous" when he intends to insult, and not distort with bitterness the soft grace of the pleasant word "risible."

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call_copse
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Re: Risible

Postby call_copse » Tue Apr 14, 2015 7:18 am

The word risible is indelibly linked for me to The Life of Brian (often voted the funniest film ever made):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zyv6YHR_UE

'What about you - do you find it ... risible ... when I say the name Biggus Dickus?' (3:30)

Puerile perhaps but quite charmingly irresistible.
Iain


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