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Public Service Announcement #2

November 29th, 2010

But a moment ago I discovered that the word wont (not won’t as in will not (why does the “o” stick around anyway?))…where was I?…oh yes! Wont doesn’t mean what I’ve come to think it means:

wont /wɔnt, woʊnt, wʌnt/ : accustomed; used to
He was wont to rise at dawn.
(adjective, noun, verb) wont, wont or wont·ed, wont·ing

I thought it meant doing an unpleasant task. Like going through the drudgery of paperwork or some other obligation. I can see that I’ve internalized this definition because the context of the word is almost always used to explain a repetitive or monotonous task (hence being used to it)–tasks which are innately unpleasant.

I know this is how words pick up definitions as language evolves. If I recall correctly (I’d double check this), that’s how terrific branched off of terror to mean something good. Maybe I can do some language analysis and figure out what words will morph into the future (clearly for the purposes of domain squatting).

Things You Should Probably Ignore