Friday, January 25, 2013

Solemnity of manner


Gravitas.

noun: dignity, seriousness, or solemnity of manner.

As in, "Dorianne Laux's poems bring a gravitas and solidity to the ordinary aspects of American life, [....]"

So now I know. And all this time I thought gravitas was a synonym for cojones, or chutzpah. As in, "Jerome finally mustered up the gravitas to stand up to the snarling dominatrix, even as she swung him by his gravitas in a wide circle like a dead cat."

Turns out it is from the Latin, and thus purely BritishSpeak and not even meant for Americans to hear, much less try to use.

Go figure.

3 comments:

  1. er, is that your breakfast.......?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ouch! To be flung about by one's gravitas would hurt, I would imagine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anything that puts a fried egg over a slice of pineapple does not deserve to be described as having gravitas. There again, the indigestion after eating it will certainly be gravitas.

    ReplyDelete

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