desultory = wha?

[Wilson Gray]

I'll reach into my bag of polysyllabic words, pick one that's sorta,
kinda, randomly relevant and toss it into the sentence. They'll never
know the difference and I'll really impress them.

Oh, well. What can you do?

-Wilson

On 6/6/07, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      desultory = wha?
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> An NPR reporter described the sentencing of "Scooter" Libby as a "sad and desultory coda" to the entire trial.
>
>   What th'--?
>
>   She went on to describe the judge's point-by-point justification of the sentence.  Nothing "desultory" about it.
>
>   MW says that (certain morons) use "desultory" to mean "disappointing in performance or quality," but even that's a big big stretch here.
>
>   JL
>
>
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--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
                                              -Sam'l Clemens

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