Do you flaunt or flout?

Forums: English, Vocab, Flaunt Vs Flout
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There was a recent posting where Contrex corrected Snood on his choice of words. I don't know where to look to find it, ain't gonna try but ...

Quote:

M-W

flaunt

transitive verb
1 : to display ostentatiously or impudently : parade <flaunting his superiority>
2 : to treat contemptuously <flaunted the rules — Louis Untermeyer>

usage Although transitive sense 2 of flaunt undoubtedly arose from confusion with flout, the contexts in which it appears cannot be called substandard <meting out punishment to the occasional mavericks who operate rigged games, tolerate rowdyism, or otherwise flaunt the law — Oscar Lewis> <observed with horror the flaunting of their authority in the suburbs, where men…put up buildings that had no place at all in a Christian commonwealth — Marchette Chute> <in our profession…very rarely do we publicly chastise a colleague who has flaunted our most basic principles — R. T. Blackburn, AAUP Bulletin>. If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake. Use of flout in the sense of flaunt 1 is found occasionally <“The proper pronunciation,” the blonde said, flouting her refined upbringing, “is pree feeks” — Mike Royko>.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flaunt

Remember no hitting below the belt. Back to your corners now and come out at the sound of the bell.

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@JTT,

Messrs. Merriam and Webster wrote:

If you use it, however, you should be aware that many people will consider it a mistake.

I'm one of those people.

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Regardless of what Merriam-Webster says, I assert that to flaunt means "to show off", and that to flout means "to defy" or "to show contempt for". There are many sources, both on line and printed, which declare unabiguously that to confuse these meanings is a mistake.

This...

Quote:

Although transitive sense 2 of flaunt undoubtedly arose from confusion with flout, the contexts in which it appears cannot be called substandard

... means "Although the practice of using of flaunt to mean flout is an error, these quoted examples appear in work by respectable authors"

I do not take that to mean it's OK. Even great authors make careless mistakes.

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@joefromchicago,

Me too.

I think Merriam Webster are guilty of criminal behaviour, giving credence to this sort of stuff.

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btw, Somebody said on the BBC radio this morning, Sarah Palin seems to get her command of English from George Bush.

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Quote:

I assert that to flaunt means "to show off", and that to flout means "to defy" or "to show contempt for".

I agree with this,

A difference between BrE and AmE perhaps?

Languages continually evolve. Whether that evolution comes from mistaken meanings or not it is still evolution. When to include a change in definition is a difficult challenge.

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@dadpad,

Don't let them off so lightly, dadpad. Put the boot in, man. They're ******* up our language. No quarter, no surrender!

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huh, all this time i thought Flaunt, was your father-in-laws, parents sister, and Flout was something flute players did

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@dadpad,

dadpad wrote:

Quote:
I assert that to flaunt means "to show off", and that to flout means "to defy" or "to show contempt for".

I agree with this,

A difference between BrE and AmE perhaps?

No, it's the difference between being descriptive and being prescriptive. The folks at M-W apparently are the former -- they're merely describing a common, albeit mistaken, practice, much like the indiscriminate use of "alright" and "irregardless." But then using "effect" or "phone" as verbs were once regarded by language purists as gauche. Some day we may all be saying "refudiate," just as another linguistically-challenged politician introduced "normalcy" into the language ninety years ago.

dadpad wrote:

Languages continually evolve. Whether that evolution comes from mistaken meanings or not it is still evolution. When to include a change in definition is a difficult challenge.

Indeed.

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Quote:

and Flout was something flute players did .

Boats do it too,

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I agree with contrex. It's a mistake to switch them

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@joefromchicago,

Good man, Joe

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2010/jul/19/sarah-palin-refudiate-new-word

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@joefromchicago,

Quote:

they're merely describing a common, albeit mistaken, practice, much like the indiscriminate use of "alright" and "irregardless." But then using "effect" or "phone" as verbs were once regarded by language purists as gauche. Some day we may all be saying "refudiate," just as another linguistically-challenged politician introduced "normalcy" into the language ninety years ago.

Contradiction after contradiction after contradiction, Joe.

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Do you flaunt or flout?

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