2021-03-04 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด V – vapid & insipid

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2021-03-04

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด V – vapid & insipid

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Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง vapid = ‘VAP-id’

ออกเสียง insipid = ‘in-SIP-id’

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Choose the Right Synonym for vapid &  insipid

INSIPID, VAPID, FLAT, JEJUNE, BANAL, INANE 

mean devoid of qualities that make for spirit and character. 

INSIPID implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest.  

an insipid romance with platitudes on every page  

VAPID suggests a lack of liveliness, force, or spirit.  

an exciting story given a vapid treatment  

FLAT applies to things that have lost their sparkle or zest.  

although well-regarded in its day, the novel now seems flat  

JEJUNE suggests a lack of rewarding or satisfying substance.  

a jejune and gassy speech  

BANAL stresses the complete absence of freshness, novelty, or immediacy.  

a banal tale of unrequited love  

INANE implies a lack of any significant or convincing quality.  

an inane interpretation of the play 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Did You Know?

Then away goes the brisk and pleasant Spirits 

and leave a vapid or sour Drink. 

So wrote John Mortimer, an early 18th-century expert on agriculture, orchards, and cider-making, in his book on husbandry. 

His use was typical for his day, 

when vapid was often used specifically in reference to liquor. 

The term, which entered English in the 17th century, 

comes from vapidus, a Latin word that means "flat-tasting" 

and may be related to vapor. 

These days, you're likely to hear people referring to wine as vapid. 

You're likely to hear the word in plenty of other situations, too. 

Vapid, along with the synonyms insipid, flat, and inane, 

is often used to describe people and things 

that lack spirit and character.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Insipid vs. Incipient

There are those who claim that these two words are commonly confused, though the collected evidence in our files don’t support that claim 

(in edited prose, that is). 

If there is confusion, 

it is likely because incipient is sometimes 

used in constructions where its meaning is not clear.

Insipid is less common than incipient, 

but it is used more in general prose 

and with much more clarity than incipient is. 

Insipid means “weak,” 

and it can refer to 

people (“insipid hangers-on”), 

things (“what an insipid idea,” “painted the room an insipid blue,” 

“he gave his boss an insipid smile”), 

and specifically flavors or foods (“an insipid soup,” 

“the cocktail was insipid and watery”).

Incipient, on the other hand, 

is more common than insipid is 

and means “beginning to come into being or become apparent.” 

It has general use (“an incipient idea,” “incipient racial tensions”), 

but also has extensive specialized use in medicine 

(“an incipient disease”) 

and other scientific fields (“an incipient star in a distant galaxy”). 

But general use of incipient is sometime vague at best:

But devaluing grand slams to 3 1/2 runs has irked even the guys it was meant to pacify. "They're messing with the game," says incipient slugger Randy Johnson (three grannies already this spring). "Not to mention my RBI totals."

— ESPN, 14 June 1999

Among my generation of aesthetes, bohemians, proto-dropouts, and incipient eternal students at Sydney University in the late 1950s, Robert Hughes was the golden boy.

— Clive James, The New York Review, 11 Jan. 2007

This menu looks traditional but embraces ingredients and ideas that have become incipient classics in American cuisine, such as portobello mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and mango.

— Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator, 30 Nov. 1995

Incipient is rarely used of people, 

and so the first example is an atypical use of the word. 

As for the other examples, 

can something that is just beginning to emerge be eternal, or a classic? Uses like this tend to confuse the reader.

If you find yourself unsure of which word to use, 

follow the rule that 

when referring to someone or something weak, use insipid, 

and when referring to something that is newly apparent or newly begun, use incipient.

Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions

vapid & insipid

These words mean “lacking flavor, life, or sharpness,” 

“dull and tedious”:

“This cold drink is vapid (or insipid).”

“The conversation we had was insipid (or vapid).”

What distinction there is between the words 

is that vapid suggests stupidity or dullness 

and insipid implies tastelessness, flatness:

“vapid talk at a cocktail party,”

“the insipid taste of the hors d’oeuvres served.”