Today's word is fancy. Certain words appeal to me because of their multifacetedness. Fancy is one such word.
Fancy [fan-see] (Some but not all of the following is taken from Dictionary.com)
The most common use of this word is as an adjective.
Definition: ornamental; decorative; not plain: a cake with a fancy icing.
It can also be a noun.
Definition: desire; preference; whim: he took a fancy to driving in the country.
It makes a great interjection.
Definition: An exclamation of mild surprise: Fancy that!
But where this word really goes bonkers is when it is used as a verb.
Definition: to take a liking; to form a conception; to believe without being absolutely sure or certain; to breed to develop a special type of animal.
For each of the previous definitions I used one example which summed up the most common uses of the word. That is just not adequate when this word is used as a verb.
I fancy jello pudding. I would fancy some right now as a matter of fact.
I fancy myself quite the nautical expert. (That is, based on the fact that I study sailing and navigation.)
I fancy you are some kind of robot. (That is, assuming without knowledge.)
I fancy animals. (I don't know; I mean, I had never even seen this definition before. I guess it means I breed them. Like if I bought a male and a female gazelle and made such conditions as would lead to them making more gazelles. I guess that would mean I fancy them. But gosh it sounds weird.)
Isn't this a ludicrously versatile word?! And it's not even two different words which happen to be spelled and pronounced the same. Oh no. It is one and it is many. Maybe there's some kind of analogy for the Trinity in here. Or maybe that's heresy. I won't press it.
No comments:
Post a Comment