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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > PREPOSTEROUS

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pronounce PREPOSTEROUS:

pruh POSS tuh russ
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connect this word to others:

We all know the prefixes pre- and post-, right?

Well, maybe I'm just slow on the uptake, but I only recently noticed them squished together inside the word preposterous.

Those Latin bits (pre-, "before," and post-, "after") reveal that a preposterous thing, in its oldest sense, was done with the befores after, or with the afters before.

(Source)

I love it when I discover etymologies hiding in plain sight like this! 

Another funny example is the word willy-nilly, which originally meant "willing or not willing," having arisen as a contraction of the phrase "will I, nill I."

Speaking of willy-nilly, see if you can recall its more dignified Latin cousin. It, too, rhymes, and it, too, literally means "willing or not willing:" no___s vo___s.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

"Preposterous" dates back to the 1500s in English and literally means "with the last thing done first: out of order, or happening backwards."

The figurative sense developed very soon afterwards, and it's the sense we most often use today: preposterous things are stupid or unreasonable in an outrageous way.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "Several episodes of Family Guy feature a long, preposterous fight between Peter and a giant chicken named Ernie."

Other forms: 

The adverb is "preposterously."

And the noun is "preposterousness." (I think "preposterity" would sound better, but it isn't recognized by dictionaries.)

how to use it:

"Preposterous" is a common word with a negative tone. I hope you enjoy spitting it out, with those explosive P's, whenever you want to sound dramatic or even hysterical as you point out something absurd, ridiculous, or totally out of the question.

We talk about preposterous ideas, dreams, claims, accusations, assumptions, explanations, excuses, and situations.

examples:

"She glanced at Diego as he served himself a preposterous helping of ribs."  
  — Shaun David Hutchinson, We Are the Ants, 2016

"Lane is the kind of character that can orchestrate a global conspiracy while flying under the radar of every major spy agency. It’s all so... preposterous that he might as well carry a cane and call himself Loki." 
  — Bryan Bishop, The Guardian, 27 August 2015

has this page helped you understand "preposterous"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "preposterous" without saying "absurd" or "with the cart before the horse."

try it out:

In the show Pinky and the Brain, Brain is always hatching some plan to take over the world and, as it forms in his mind, he asks Pinky, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

As preposterous as the plan Brain is forming, Pinky always manages to reply with something equally preposterous yet unrelated.

Like, "Uh, I think so, Brain, but we'll never get a monkey to use dental floss."

Or "Well, I think so, Brain, but I can't memorize a whole opera in Yiddish."

"I think so, Brain, but how will we get the Spice Girls into the paella?"

With Pinky in mind as an example, talk about another fictional character who makes you laugh with their preposterous suggestions, replies, or plans.




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "That's A New One!"

I'll define and describe an amusing term that Dictionary.com has recently embraced. See if you can come up with it, and if you need more hints, you can reveal them by highlighting the black bits. To see the answer, scroll all the way down. 

Try this one today:

According to Dictionary.com, it's "the powdery residue that gets on your fingertips while eating the savory cheese snack, Cheetos®." It may have been coined by the comedian Rich Hall.

It entered English around the 1980s.

It's one word.

It's trademarked.

It's a portmanteau: a blend of two words, like "sitcom" or "brunch."

It starts with the letter... C.

Its number of syllables is...two.

Its first three letters are... CHE.

review this word:

1. Opposites of PREPOSTEROUS include

A. NORMAL and REASONABLE.
B. CONDENSED and SUMMARIZED.
C. UNIFYING and COOPERATIVE.

2. Kurt Vonnegut's narrator introduces the main character of Slaughterhouse Five like this: "Billy was preposterous—six feet and three inches tall, with a chest and shoulders like _____."

A. a barrel
B. a wide receiver
C. a box of kitchen matches




Answers to the review questions:
1. A
2. C

From the game: Cheetle, formed from "Cheeto" + "little." (I would have gone with "Cheest" for "Cheeto dust" or "Cheesidue" for "Cheeto residue," but the American people have spoken.)


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


From my blog:
On vocabulary...
      36 ways to study words.
      Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
      How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
      How to improve any sentence.
      How to motivate our kids to write.
      How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
      How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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