Here’s a word I (sometimes) like and (sometimes) use: “beggar”.
Depending on its meaning. Mostly the word strikes me unremarkable, even depressing.
A beggar can be someone who survives by begging. That definition doesn’t inspire me.
As a verb, something that “beggars” you reduces you to poverty. Don’t care for that one, either!
Nowadays we hear it said that such-and-such “begs the question” of whatever the speaker is riled up about. Historically, that’s a gross misuse of “beg” – one that jars my delicate sensibilities. (I intend soon to write about this mistake and what we can say instead. Stay tuned.)
But “beggar” can also mean “to exceed the resources or abilities of” something. That’s the meaning I like.
For instance, we can say something “beggars description”, meaning it defies description (although “beggars” is an even stronger word than “defies”).
At the heart of our Milky Way galaxy (and probably every galaxy) there’s an ultra-compressed region of space called a black hole. This one isn’t your garden-variety black hole: It already has sucked in millions of stars, and is continually swallowing more, producing (I wrote recently) a gravitational field that “beggars all imagination”.
My point being: Don’t bother trying to wrap your mind around this phenomenon. Our feeble brains can’t cope. But do stand awestricken!
All that meaning, and more, encapsulated in the simple word “beggar”.
My next challenge will be resisting the temptation to keep using this word till it goes stale on me, or even dead.
Writers do that. Words do that. If we’re not careful, we beggar them. So on to our next word!
(This article is part of my series on words that are #worth1000pictures.)