This is not my beautiful storm

[altariel]

So that slight puttering sound against the steaming tar of the road seems to be the thunderstorm I was promised last night. Huh.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the quick'n'dirty poll. I asked because for years now I've been noticing the word 'bemused' being used in a sense which is not how I use it: i.e. the only sense I can make is to change the word from 'puzzled' to 'amused'. (It mostly pops up in US mass market paperbacks, which is why I asked the flavo(u)r question; I think the first time I saw it was as a teenager in a ST:TNG paperback.) I've been wondering for some time if it was a "when we say fulsome it's not what you mean" kind of thing, or whether a usage shift was going on. Not sure I've proved anything, but I did find out (thanks, gehayi) that 'bemused' has a whole other sense, which is 'absorbed in thought'. I don't think that suits at least some of the occasions which I've seen it and been, well, bemused by it, but I can try that next time.

Unfortunately, the instance which triggered this (from Bujold's The Hallowed Hunt) is not a particularly good example, but perhaps I'll post one when I find one.

Comments

[halimede.livejournal.com]

the only sense I can make is to change the word from 'puzzled' to 'amused'

As a Dutch speaker with a rich mix of types of English spoken to, near and at me, I think I gleaned a slightly different meaning from that usage. It's both amused *and* puzzled, the kind of 'oooooookay' amused at something you're not entirely sure about, or don't really understand the why of. Apparently this isn't correct. Which is a shame, because I thought it was really groovy that there was (is! *determinedly hopeful*) a separate word for that mildly bewildered, amused puzzlement...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

a separate word for that mildly bewildered, amused puzzlement

Oh, yes, I think that's the full sense that the word conveys, just that the 'mildly puzzled' bit seems the more significant nuance to me, and I've seen the word used where the puzzlement seems to have been gone and the amusement seems to have taken over the meaning completely. I constructed the poll to find out what people's chief sense of the word was.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Our storm seemed to consist of about five minutes' rain at 3 a.m. Further north, my mother said they got the thunder and lightning but no rain. Pah. Still, it's noticeably cooler today; I'm sitting here enjoying the breeze through my window.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

We had drizzle throughout the morning, which made it feel muggy for a while, but seems to have cooled it down now. I woke up very early and it got cooler as it got lighter, which was odd.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Martin, who's here to cut the grass, says he heard some rain at 7.30 a.m. yesterday, but I wouldn't know about that. I shut the window because of the noise and fumes from his Brand New Petrol Mower, which he insisted on bringing because he scorns my Brand New Rechargeable Battery Mower. However BNPM appears to be struggling. I don't think he realises I can see him from my desk, and I'm timing it to see how long he spends tinkering with the engine (pausing for occasional smoking breaks) before he concedes defeat and asks if BNRBM might be available. I'm going to try very hard to keep a straight face.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Are you victorious yet?

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

We're currently enjoying a strategic retreat and regrouping. After half an hour (including three smoking breaks), he came to tell me that he was having problems, because the shop told him to put too much oil in BNPM, and he should have followed his own instincts, because it's clogging up [some widget or other] so he needs to get a steel brush to clear it. He's coming back at teatime with the brush and then he and BNPM will complete the campaign. I did mention BNRBM but he rejected the need for reinforcements.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I just decided to ring the TV supplier to ask when the delivery was due. "Oh, we are having problems with the stock and won't be delivering till Saturday now." Oh, OK, good job we're around then.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

It's raining! Real rain! I mean, none of your five-minute torrent swiftly followed by dazzling sun and heat again! First it got cloudy, and a bit cooler, and then rain started falling gently from the sky! And it's still happening, at least fifteen minutes later!

I suspect this may involve a revision of the teatime resumption. And I should probably go out and put the lids back on the compost bins, which Martin left off because he wasn't expecting this interruption.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hooray! It's getting a bit darker here, I hope we're going to get some of it. Surely if I nip out to the shop it's bound to start chucking it down...

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Get thee to the shops! It started as I was walking back!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's beaten me to it! It's spitting now!

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Three cheers! We've had more than half an hour now!

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

"Bemused = amused" is a misuse, one that often makes the SAT language exam section due to how common it is. (The trouble, I think, is that bemused is a sort of gently puzzled, and it's usually very easy to mentally replace with "amused" without the sentence losing meaning.

I've been wondering for some time if it was a "when we say fulsome it's not what you mean" kind of thing

I never ran into "fulsome" (assuming we're just talking about the "generous" vs. "insincere" difference, I actually think that's just derived from using the same word to mean "a lot" and "just slightly too much", which is pretty easy context for me), but I always got tripped up over "homely", which seems to be radically different in US and UK usage.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've seen 'fulsome' in a US context to mean 'repulsive' as opposed to 'lavish', but it's one of those sliding scales of meaning again. 'Homely' was the example I nearly used, actually!

I covet that icon.

It certainly is!

[tomt2.livejournal.com]

Bemused is a great word. For me there is always a connotation of exasperation. You are annoyed, but can see SOME humor in the situation. Fulsome is usually excessive, too much of a good thing, like sweets or insincere gushing compliments

Re: It certainly is!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hello! My instinct is to use 'fulsome' to mean 'effusive', but I picked up it had nuances of 'excessive'.

Bemused by this

[(Anonymous)]

I used to assume "bemused" meant amused in a distant sort of way: you know, so and so was bemused, watching as X tried to explain himself to Y.

Then I found out its real meaning, but the other, incorrect sense, is occasionally so strong and, despite being incorrect, so concisely encapsulates the sense I mean that I'll use it incorrectly because I can assume most other people will take it as intended.

On the flip side of that coin, because it seems like the word usually is associated with some form of amusement, I've also tended to avoid using it when I could correctly say "So and so was deeply absorbed in thought" because of the potential for confusion.

Dwim

Re: Bemused by this

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I used to assume "bemused" meant amused in a distant sort of way: you know, so and so was bemused, watching as X tried to explain himself to Y.

I think that's what's meant in the Bujold case and others I've read. I'd probably just used 'amused' there, or 'distantly amused', to pinch your adjective!

Re: Bemused by this

[(Anonymous)]

I'd probably just used 'amused' there, or 'distantly amused', to pinch your adjective!

Pinch away. I also think 'reflectively' would work as an adjective.

Dwim

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

I've just had a look in my Shorter OED and it's only got a meaning for a verb, 1735. "To make utterly muddled, as with drink. joc. To devote entirely to the Muses." The quote is from Pope "A parson much be-mus'd in beer."

It doesn't look as though we're going to get a thunderstorm - just greyness and drizzle. Still, at least it's a bit cooler.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the definition, it seems 'puzzlement' is the main sense.

There was a rumble of thunder an hour or so ago, but nothing more yet. Your icon makes up for it though!

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

A thunderstorm would be lovely right now.

I've been looking for a few watery icons. This one is thanks to nerwende

[altariel.livejournal.com]

This rain is certainly an improvement...

[edge-of-ruin.livejournal.com]

Bilbo's favourite bath song seems to have done the trick!