Saturday, August 23, 2003

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Ought, Not for Aught The archaic word "Aught" has an odd conflict in its meanings. It can mean: 1) anything whatever; 2) Nothing. The example give on the linked site illustrates #1: "Neither of his parents had aught but praise for him". That could be re-phrased to use the same word, meaning #2: "Both his parents had naught but praise for him." (I think there is a term for this kind of conflict, which is also seen in some other words like "sanction": Her father sanctioned the marraige; economic sanctions were implemented as a sign of disapproval). From an aught, alteration of a naught. Also, "ought" is given as a variant spelling. I have a hard time swallowing that as an acceptable variant. It strikes me as being about as correct as "I could care less" being an acceptable variant of "I could not care less". The kind of perversion that eventually becomes enshrined in descriptive dictionaries (the famous OED is one such). In fact, it was choking on the phrase "You're gonna want a thirty-ought-six [pistol]" in a NYT article that sent me off on this little chase. I was all set to take them to task, snidely observing that the urban, liberal NYT staff was so far removed from "gun culture", that neither reporter, nor copy editor, nor editor noticed the mondegreen-like misspelling of "aught". But I guess they get off on what I consider a technicality. 10:57:42 PM    comment []