Posted by Atlanta Tuba Dad on September 18, 2003 at 08:32:48:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: To Dave Zerkel posted by Pundit... on September 17, 2003 at 19:02:44:
Mr. P, if you want to debate definitions, please start another thread.
From dictionary.com:
"Usage Note: Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the
property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that
enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general
sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative
moral judgment, as in "Not until the war ended and journalists were
able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the
enormity of Pol Pot's oppression". Fifty-nine percent of the Usage
Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the
sentence "At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely
new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task". This
distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed
historically, but nowadays many observe it."
At least 44 percent of the Panel agrees with my usage . . .