idiosyncratic

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gwray
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idiosyncratic

Postby gwray » Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:01 pm

I saw this word together with 'eccentric' describing something in a book "Fields of Blood" by Karen Armstrong. I wondered whether this was a redundancy or whether the two words have distinct shades of meaning.
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver Proverbs 25:11

Perry Lassiter
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Re: idiosyncratic

Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:17 pm

When I read "idiosyncratic" I think of something particular to a person, something more or less unique. "Eccentric" connotes a more general weirdness, perhaps including multiple behaviors. I had one teacher in college who would lecture, seated at his desk, and often reaching back to lay a piece of chalk against the board, but seldom writing a complete word. To me, that is idiosyncratic. In another town, I knew and elderly woman who lived in a deteriorating Victorian house piled high with all sorts of things, a real horder. She also a bottle of some concoction that smelled like creosote that she offered to choir members who complained of sore throats. The threat magically cured them. Since, I've known other horders and home remedy offerers, I would call her eccentric. Anyone else get a different take?
pl

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call_copse
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Re: idiosyncratic

Postby call_copse » Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:33 am

Seems pretty spot on Perry - a great explanation and example, thanks. Eccentricities may or may not be distinct to an individual, idiosyncrasies may or may not be slightly peculiar, so there is a venn diagram where they overlap, but they need not.
Iain


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