They’re All Over The Place

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 22175 – 745:

Ubiquitous is one of my favorite words, but alas, unlike that overused, misused, and abused adjective, “awesome,” ubiquitous is not found commonly used by a lot of people yet.  This is a shame.  It is a good, fun word with a solid meaning.  I wish you would see it everywhere.  If you are not yet familiar with this word, might I recommend the Merriam-Webster definition at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous: “Existing or being everywhere at the same time:  constantly encountered:  widespread <a ubiquitous fashion>”

See?  That’s why I think it should be used a lot more than it is.  Not only that, but it is the only word that rhymes with iniquitous.  So,

If you see that the world is full of extreme unfairness and evil
Oftentimes referred to as iniquity
You could say that sins, credited frequently to the devil
Abound in ubiquity

Or, if you find these sinners everywhere you look
And see the many, many people who are iniquitous
Now that you know this word you won’t need a book
You merely need to say that the iniquitous are ubiquitous

Another word that I would use as a very near rhyme for these two words would be tranquility because of the “qui” and the “ity” in it. I must be getting old, I forgot antiquity.  This then allows the segue into a whole new set of words, like senility, fragility, responsibility and ability, to name a few.  Ability is really an awesome word because you can tack it onto all manner of other words, like adaptability, employability, likability, and even serviceability.

I love words and their workability and pliability.

And remember, two wrongs don’t make a right but two Wrights make an airplane.

12 Comments

  1. I love “serendipity” and “confluence”. I think they’re lovely, but they are hard to work into a conversation without sounding like a twit who’s trying to manipulate the conversation just so she can impress someone with “serendipity” or “confluence”.

    • But serendipity is so much fun. Confluence can be used pretty legitimately. You can work them both in as long as you don’t do it ubiquitously.

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