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Meretricious

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Tdol

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On the radio today, someone used the word meretricious with the intended meaning of 'deserving' or 'worthy'. The Concise Oxford Dictionary says that it means 'showily but falsely attractive' or 'of or befitting a prostitute'. I wonder what the speaker...

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Source: TDOL's Language Archive
 
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RonBee

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Sometimes a person uses a word to mean what they think it means. I don't believe I have used the word myself, but I would understand meretricious to mean doing something solely for money (and not out of principle).

One should be careful to be sure of oneself before one uses an unfamiliar word.

:)
 
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Tdol

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I'd be interested to see how they would write it- I'm sure they'd replace the second 'e' with an 'i'. ;-)
 
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RonBee

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tdol said:
I'd be interested to see how they would write it- I'm sure they'd replace the second 'e' with an 'i'. ;-)
Click to expand...

If you think it means based on merit you might do that.

:wink:
 
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