Is "optionary" an acceptable word to use?

[DemonSlayer]

Just got made fun of for using the word "optionary". Is it okay to use it as replacement for "optional"?

 

[Rover_KE]

You can find it in a couple of dictionaries, but it's marked 'dated' and is so rarely used in modern English that you'd be well advised to forget it.

[click]

Where did you encounter it?

 

[DemonSlayer]

I don't quite know, I've simply used it in replacement for optional in certain situations for as long as I can remember. I was met with that snarky, obtuse mockery only a mother can love just now for using it and so I wanted to know how "wrong" I actually was.

 

[jutfrank]

Just got made fun of for using the word "optionary". Is it okay to use it as replacement for "optional"?

Well, yes, as long as you want a bit of snarky obtuse mockery from your listeners!

There's a lesson to learn from those people's reactions to your word choice.

 

[GoesStation]

If I saw the word "Optionary" with no context, I'd guess it was the name of an old board game. If I saw it replacing "optional" in a sentence, I'd think "What an interesting mistake!" It wouldn't occur to me that the writer had used it on purpose.

 

[DemonSlayer]

If I saw the word "Optionary" with no context, I'd guess it was the name of an old board game. If I saw it replacing "optional" in a sentence, I'd think "What an interesting mistake!" It wouldn't occur to me that the writer had used it on purpose.

Its just so odd to me because I always thought it was more prevalent than that.

 

[jutfrank]

Its just so odd to me because I always thought it was more prevalent than that.

No, it really isn't.

It's funny how you can pick up strange words like this and go for a long time before noticing no one else uses them, isn't it? I'm sure lots of people have done the same thing.

 

[DemonSlayer]

I am just going to make it my own and use it. Just like how I always say equipped'ed. At the very least, now I can rest assured in my wrong doing. Thanks Djedi

 

[Tdol]

I've never heard it used.

 

[GoesStation]

I'm quite sure I'd never seen it until it appeared in this thread. I really wouldn't advise using it.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd never heard it/seen it until this thread. I advise against using it.