travesty

Benjamin Barrett gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM
Tue Jan 15 18:11:18 UTC 2013


On Jan 15, 2013, at 9:32 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> I mentioned this in 2010. It means "an outrageous occurrence or situation."
> Like a tragedy but different.
>
> CNN characterizes the plight of Syrian refugees forced over the border into
> Turkey as simply "a travesty."

I wouldn't have known the dictionary meaning if I hadn't seen this e-mail and looked it up. No idea it was supposed to be different from a tragedy. (I wouldn't want to try to use it with the dictionary meaning, either....)

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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