Unfazed by "Nonplussed"

Sometimes people use "big" words because they want to sound smart in certain situations (interviews, first dates, speeches, debates). Sometimes people use "big" words because they are smart. There are also people who just happen to know a lot of words, perhaps because they are accomplished linguists, they have studied Latin or another foreign language, they are well-read, or they studied extensively for the SAT, GRE, etc.

And then there are people who use "big" words incorrectly. There's nothing wrong with a wide vocabulary, however, it is imperative that you know the exact meaning of a word before you attempt to adopt it into your repertoire. It is much more reputable to use a simple word to convey the correct meaning than to use the wrong word because you think it sounds cool. Oh, and the thesaurus cannot be trusted solely for synonyms. Sometimes thesauri include as synonyms words that have slightly different meanings, and this can cause problems for those that rely heavily on the thesaurus to advance their vocabulary. The problems with the thesaurus could be the subject of another blog altogether...

For now I'd like to clear up the definition of a word that is more often misused than it is used correctly. The word of the day is nonplussed.

Nonplussed is commonly misused in place of "unfazed" (slang), "unimpressed," "not jaded," "indifferent" or "unaffected." Perhaps this is because the word sounds like it should mean not plussed, assuming that plussed meant something along the lines of "affected." However, in this case nonplussed is not the converse of plussed. Plussed is not even a word. (Transponster?)

Nonplussed means "perplexed." It comes from the Latin phrase meaning "no more, no further." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines nonplus this way:

SYLLABICATION: non·plus
TRANSITIVE VERB: To put at a loss as to what to think, say, or do; bewilder.
NOUN: A state of perplexity, confusion, or bewilderment.

Some more commonly used synonyms are: puzzled, confused, and baffled.

Hopefully this word will no longer leave you nonplussed.