Miscellaneous Entries.
intimidatable. So formed — e.g.: “Sloan was perhaps the least intimidatable player in league history.” Ray Ratto, “Nobody Sings the Blues Louder Than the Jazz,” News & Observer (Raleigh), 6 June 1997, at C1.
intramural = conducted within the limits of an organization or body, esp. of an educational institution. The term is misused when the sense extends beyond one college or university — that is, it is impossible to have a competition remain intramural if there are competitors from elsewhere: “They are also trying to determine if there has been any recent contact between Harvard and Dartmouth, like intramural sports.” “Link Sought Between Sicknesses at Two Colleges,” N.Y. Times, 6 Dec. 1994, at A12.
intransigence (= stubborn refusal to accommodate or compromise) is the standard spelling. “Intransigeance” is a variant form.
intravenous is pronounced /in-truh-VEE-nuhs — not /in-truh-VEE-nee-uhs/.
intrigue, v.i., has traditionally meant “to carry on a plot or secret love affair.” But today the word most commonly functions as a mere equivalent of “interest” or “fascinate.” Many editors object to the word when used in this newer sense — e.g.: “Seeing the heads of all four networks gathered in the same room last week is extraordinary enough. Even more intriguing [read ‘fascinating’], however, were the downcast eyes and somber expressions.” “Networks Under the Gun,” Newsweek, 12 July 1993, at 64. (The example also shifts tense from present in the first sentence to past in the second.) In the end, however, the traditional use of “intrigue” seems doomed. The word might justifiably be considered among the skunked terms.
For information about the Language-Change Index click here.
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Quotation of the Day: “There is probably no point of view possible to a sane man but contains some truth and, in the true connection, might be profitable to the race. I am not afraid of the truth, if any one could tell it me, but I am afraid of parts of it impertinently uttered.” Robert Louis Stevenson, Learning to Write 134 (1888; repr. 1920).
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