Has enormity crossed over? 1

[columb]

I'm sure that everyone in this forum is aware that enormity means

The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness

but the incorrect usage as a synonym for 'huge' has become so common that it passes almost without comment.


Today's New York Times uses the 'huge' definition on its opinion page. Is this a sign that the definition has effectively crossed over and common usage makes the 'incorrect' meaning correct?



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[AnotherHiggins]

And why can't you quote posts on this forum?

You can. You just have to write the TGML tags yourself instead of pushing a button and having the site do it for you.

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And why can't you quote posts on this forum?

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[Stella740pl]

-> So what would be the adjective that IS related to "enormous"?

The argument would be that one should instead say immensity or enormousness.

That would be a noun (not really) related to "enormous" - but synonymous, of course.
Sorry for misunderstanding. My mistake. I meant this:
So what would be the adjective that IS related to "enormity"?
What would be "the argument" then?

 

[kjv1611]

unixfreak,

Click on "[blue]Process TGML[/blue]" for details on quotes, etc on this forum. It's down to the right of where you type your replies.

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"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[tcsbiz]

Well that's on topic.... By the way, the nickname is "Gray Lady", not "Great Lady"."

It's perfectly on topic. I used enormity!
It used to be a great lady now it's just a grey lady.

 

[Michael52x]

Stella"!!!!!!!!!!! The latin got it for me.
"E" as the article. Also meaning "mal"
"norm" as the verb
"ity" as the noun
Correct???

"Impatience will reward you with dissatisfaction" RMS Cosmics'97

 

[Stella740pl]

"E" as the article. Also meaning "mal"
Possibly (I didn't study Latin, though have an idea of some bits and pieces).
I wasn't arguing with this part - and don't have problem with this meaning.

"norm" as the verb
Ha? Where is the verb here?

Another thing bothers me, though.
First, wouldn't something significantly bigger (or smaller, for that matter) than the norm also qualify as malnormality?

Second, the source that Fee (willif) quotes states that "enormity is not related to enormous". How come? How can this be? The do have common roots.
Besides, can someone tell what would be the adjective that IS related to "enormity" in its original meaning of "passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness"?