Laughable Word Usage

How many words do we have at our fingertips within the thesaurus? I’m going to go ahead and say there are about 70,000 words that sound and have similar meanings to about 70,000 other words, so, quick math tells me that there are about 1 MILLION words at our disposal. So, what makes a person deviate from this and use a word that, in one context means something totally understandable, but within another context means absolutely nothing, except for to say to everyone listening, “Yeah, that’s right, I used an ‘out-of-context’ word and you guys didn’t. I know vocabulary. I wrote the thesaurus. My last name is Dictionary.”

For example, you might casually joke around with someone about being pregnant and ask the question, “So, have you been impregnated yet?” And, although you might get a slap on the back of the head by a woman, the usage of the word “impregnated” is understandable; “to make pregnant; get with child or young.” We get that usage. We’ve heard it before in that context.

Now, have you ever heard someone use that same word, but within this context, “This book is so impregnated with facts that for you not to gain any knowledge from it is astounding”? No? I hadn’t either until last Friday when I was at a business seminar and the speaker used it in that exact way as stated above. What’s up with that?! Who does that?!

Listen, I know it makes logistical sense to use it, I get the meaning, but still, are you using it just for shock value? You know that everyone’s eyebrow will raise when they hear that and immediately think of a lady being pregnant, so, why do you use it in that context?? I just don’t get it.

So, from now on, leave words that belong in a certain context ALONE!!!!