2020-11-18
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด O - official & officious
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ที่ถือว่า ถูกต้องนี้ เป็นไปตามมาตรฐานการใช้ภาษา
การใช้คำอังกฤษ ไม่กำหนดมาตฐาน ถือตามส่วนใหญ่ที่ใช้แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจยืดหยุ่น ขึ้นอยู่กับ ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง official = ‘uh-FISH-uhl’
ออกเสียง officious = ‘uh-FISH-uhs’
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
Official = authorized, authoritative:
We obtained official permission to enter the building.;
one who administers the rules of a game:
The official called for a time-out.
Not to be confused with:
officious – meddlesome; intrusive in an offensive manner:
She’s an officious woman who makes a nuisance of herself.
Dictionary.com
WORDS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH OFFICIOUS
The noun official refers to someone with
a certain degree of authority because
they were elected or appointed to a position of responsibility
within a government, organization, etc.
There are White House officials, corporate officials, school board officials, sports officials—the list is seemingly endless.
Just keep in mind that the noun official is rather generic
and is not used to identify a specific ranking of position or authority
as are such titles as president, CEO, treasurer, referee, etc.,
all of whom could be referred to as officials.
Official can also be an adjective, and that’s
when it’s sometimes confused with officious
(which is always an adjective).
Like many commonly misunderstood words,
officious simply looks and sounds as if it could be a synonym
for the word it’s confused with—in this case, official.
Given the meaning of official as a noun,
it’s not surprising that its adjective senses
relate to authority or authorization
—for example,
“relating to a position of authority”
(the official sovereignty of the quee);
“issued authoritatively” (waiting for official instructions);
“authorized to act in a designated capacity” (the project’s official spokesperson)
Could the adjective officious bethat much different?
Well, to borrow one of the preceding examples,
if you were “waiting for official instructions,”
the last thing you’d want is for someone to show up
and give you “officious instructions.”
Why?
Because officious people rarely haveany official authority whatsoever.
In fact,
what makes them officious is theirinclination to be meddlesome
and interfering in a self-appointed sort of way.
Officious people deliver unsolicited advice, direction, and services
regardless of what may or may not be appropriate,
and especially without regard for the wishes of those
on the receiving end of their “assistance.”
So, if someone shows up to give you officious instructions,
by all means wait for the official instructions instead!
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
History and Etymology for official
Noun
Middle English, "person presiding over an ecclesiastical court, domestic retainer," borrowed from Anglo-French & Medieval Latin; Anglo-French, borrowed from Medieval Latin officiālis "person performingthe duties of an office, head of an ecclesiastical court," going back to Latin, "attendant on a magistrate," derivative of officiālis "pertaining to fixed duties"
— more at OFFICIAL entry 2
Adjective
Middle English, "functional (of a part of the body)," borrowed from Medieval Latin officiālis "functional, pertaining to duties of an office," going back to Latin, "pertaining to fixed duties,"
from officium "duty, OFFICE" + -ālis -AL entry
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for officious
IMPERTINENT, OFFICIOUS, MEDDLESOME, INTRUSIVE, OBTRUSIVE
mean given to thrusting oneself into the affairs of others.
IMPERTINENT implies exceeding the bounds of propriety in showing interest or curiosity or in offering advice.
resented their impertinent interference
OFFICIOUS implies the offering of services or attentions that are unwelcome or annoying.
officious friends made the job harder
MEDDLESOME stresses an annoying and usually prying interference in others' affairs. a meddlesome landlord
INTRUSIVE implies a tactless or otherwise objectionable thrusting into others' affairs. tried to be helpful without being intrusive
OBTRUSIVE stresses improper or offensive conspicuousness of interfering actions. expressed an obtrusive concern for his safety
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
We Are Eager to Help You Define Officious
Don't mistake "officious" for a rare synonym of "official."
Both words stem from the Latin noun officium (meaning "service" or "office"), but they have very different meanings.
When the suffix -osus ("full of") was added to "officium," Latin officiosus came intobeing, meaning "eager to serve, help, or perform a duty."
When this adjective was borrowed into English in the 16th century as "officious," it carried the same meaning. Early in the 17th century, however, "officious" began taking on a negative sense to describe a person who offers unwanted help.
This pejorative sense has driven out the original "eager to help" sense to become the predominant meaning of the word in Modern English. "Officious" can also mean "of an informal or unauthorized nature,"
but that sense isn't especially common.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
'Officious' vs. 'Official'
Plus, a limerick to help you distinguish between these two commonly confused words
The words officious and official are often confused,
which is reasonable enough,
since we frequently have this habit with words that share a beginning.
But they needn’t bedevil, and by looking at the history of each word
it becomes fairly simple to distinguish between them.
As an adjective,
'official' means "of or relating to an office, position, or trust."
'Officious' describes an annoying person
who tries to tell other people what to do
in a way that is not wanted or needed.
The words share a parentage in the Latin word officium,
which could mean either “a helpful act,” “duty or obligation,”
and “a person’s regular employment or position.”
Officium gave rise to two distinct words in Latin, each one of which subsequently became one of these two English words under discussion here.
Officiosus came from adding the suffix -osus, indicating “full of,”
and the word took the meaning of “eager to serve or help.”
The suffix -alis (meaning “relating to”) when added to officium brought about the word officialis, which in Latin initially had the meaning of “relating to duty or obligation,” and later took on the meaning of “a magistrate’s assistant.”
When officious came into English, in the 15th century, it retained the meaning that it had had in Latin. The earliest sense of the word was “dutiful,” but it also had the meaning “eager to serve or help” at about the same time. It did not take long, however, for the word to take on the additional, and now most common, meaning (“volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed”);
there is evidence that this sense was attached to officious by the end of the 16th century.
Official came into English somewhat earlier than officious; it has enjoyed a wider range of meanings and seen greater popularity than its meddlesome cousin.
The earliest use of official, beginning in the 14th century, was as a noun, referring to a person who has been appointed to an ecclesiastical court.
It began to see use as an adjective soon after, with the now-obsolete meaning of “performing a function or service.”
If you are uncertain about how to distinguish between these two words there are a couple of ways to tell them apart.
The first, and most obvious one, is that officious will typically only function as an adjective in English, and not as a noun;
official, on the other hand, hopscotches between these parts of speech with aplomb.
Additionally, words that are formed with the -osus suffix (as officious is) tend to be more likely to be used to describe unfortunate characteristics than those words that are formed from the -alis suffix.
The former group includes such specimens as contentious, bilious, flagitious, and meretricious;
the latter group includes such specimens as fiscal, hebdomadal, and littoral.
It is perhaps a stretch to say that
one is incorrect in using officious as a synonym for official,
since the word did indeed have that meaning at some point in the past, and there are many instances of writers in English referring to “officious capacity” or “officious role”.
However, it is highly anachronistic, and if your goal is to be readily understood you are advised to eschew this use in your writing.
In the event that you still have trouble keeping these two words straight in your mind, we offer the following limerick.
An official may well be officious,
(or tendentious, even malicious)
While the words may share roots
They are not in cahoots
And conflating them would be injudicious.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
Officer – official – office worker
1. 'officer'
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in the armed forces.
...a retired army officer.
Officer is also used in the name of some people's jobs.
He was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer.
Suddenly the press officer came out and announced the result.
2. 'official'
An official is a person who holds a position of authority in an organization, especially a government department or a trade union.
Government officials have rejected calls for international intervention.
Management and union officials agreed to go to the Labour Relations Commission today.
3. 'office worker'
You do not use 'officer' or 'official' to refer to someone who works in an office. A person like this is calledan office worker.
Office workers have been found to make more mistakes when distracted by traffic noise.
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
official & officious
Official pertains to holding an office or position of authority:
“Mr. Rand is an official in the Treasury Department.”
“This is an official order from the commanding officer.”
Officious means “meddlesome,” “offering unwanted or unnecessary advice”:
“The consul’s manner toward all tourists was officious.”
“Because he had no real authority, the clerk acted in an officious way.”
