ept

[Damien Hall]

Just heard the author Val McDermid, on the BBC ethical-debate show 'The Big
Questions' (21 March 2010), say something like the following:

'[my children are] well-adjusted and socially ept'

OED only lists _ept_ as 'a deliberate antonym of "inept": adroit,
appropriate, effective; hence _eptitude_, _eptly_ adv.', and the quotations
back that up, all seeming to use it ironically. The word isn't in the
online version of MW. From her tone, McDermid wasn't being ironic - there
was no change of pitch or pause to call attention to the word - and no-one
picked it up, though, granted, on that show you wouldn't expect them to
(they were debating IVF at the time).

MDermid was brought up in the late '50s and early '60s in Kirkcaldy, Fife,
Scotland; I don't know whether that's relevant to the use of the form, but
others here might. Has anyone else heard it non-ironically?

Damien

--
Damien Hall

University of York
Department of Language and Linguistic Science
Heslington
YORK
YO10 5DD
UK

Tel. (office) +44 (0)1904 432665
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http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/lang/people/pages/hall.htm

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