A.W.A.D. - Positive Counterparts of Negative Words

with Anu Garg

Negativeland is the title of a slim novel I came across recently that's written with a constraint. Here's how it begins:

"None of the stations played anything good, but I kept at the buttons, pushing off songs from a childhood we were all supposed to have had. Commercials bothered me more than ever, news was propaganda, and traffic reports were no more useful than the weather. It wasn't yet 1988, and I was driving home from Tacoma."

Notice anything interesting in this paragraph? Anything in common in the three sentences? Well, the title of the book gives a hint. Each sentence in this book has something negative going on. All 186 pages of it. And it's a tribute to the author that his self-imposed constraint doesn't constrain the storytelling. There's a long tradition of writing with self-imposed constraints. There's a group called Oulipo that has tried many things, often with admirable results (also see lipogram and univocalic).

To purge all the negativity, in this week's AWAD I'll feature five words that are positive counterparts of terms usually seen in negative forms.

evitable
PRONUNCIATION: (EV-i-tuh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Capable of being avoided or evaded

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin evitare (to avoid).

wieldy
PRONUNCIATION: (WEEL-dee)
MEANING: adjective: Easily handled or managed

ETYMOLOGY: From Old English wealdan (to rule). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong) that gave us the words valiant, avail, valor, and value.

exorable
PRONUNCIATION: (EK-suhr-uh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Capable of being persuaded or moved

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin exorare (to prevail upon), from ex- (out) + orare (to pray, beg).

gainly
PRONUNCIATION: (GAYN-lee)
MEANING: adjective: Graceful; dexterous

ETYMOLOGY: From Old Norse gegn (straight, direct)

corrigible
PRONUNCIATION: (KOR-i-juh-buhl)
MEANING: adjective: Capable of being corrected

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin corrigere (to correct). Ultimately from the Indo-European reg- (to move in a straight line, to lead or rule) that is also the source of regent, regime, direct, rectangle, erect, rectum, alert, source, and surge.

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