re·duc·tive
riˈdəktiv/
adjective
- 1.tending to present a subject or problem in a simplified form, especially one viewed as crude."such a conclusion by itself would be reductive"
This will be the first in a series of posts about words that I find intimidating, words that I've read over and over again and have heard in conversation but can never quite wrap my head around. They are words that confuse me, that I mix up with other words, that I stumble over, that I find pretentious or obtuse. I've been compiling a list for the last several weeks but am inspired to start this list today as I continue to muse over and wonder about the sentences strung together by Anonymous as comments on my last blog post. I have a good idea who this person is, and while I at first thought it was someone in the medical field, I am now pretty certain that Anonymous is a writer. Anonymous inspired me this morning not so much to write a better book but to add the following phrase to my list:
post hoc, ergo propter hoc
phrase of post hoc
- 1.after this, therefore resulting from it: used to indicate that a causal relationship has erroneously been assumed from a merely sequential one.
I should let it be known that Latin phrases always intimidate me, particularly the over-used ones. I go into a mild state of panic every time I hear quid pro quo, for instance. The above Phrase of Intimidation, though, is interesting because, according to Anonymous, I've ignored my conflict about Sophie's vaccinations and whether or not they had some role in her seizure disorder in my writing, at least in the mini-memoir recently published which makes it lack focus or direction. On top of that, according to Anonymous, I am afraid that writing through that will somehow link me to Jenny McCarthy and thus alienate readers. Poor Jenny McCarthy. According to our pediatrician, she is actually a very nice person. I have found the use of her as ground zero for the vaccination conflict interminably boring, maybe even reductive.
Anyhoo. Anonymous comments really get my goat. Maybe that's because if I have something to say, I want to own it with my name and my face. I think Anonymous' points were good ones, and I hope to always be the sort of person who even while flinching can learn from criticism. I am grateful, though, mainly to have been able to combine this long-planned blog series with Anonymous' comments from yesterday. What would I call that? Serendipity? Synchronicity? Making the best out of condescension?
If there's a Latin phrase for it, please do tell.
Reader, are there any words that you find intimidating?
