2021-05-28 ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – B – Bemuse & amuse

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2021-05-28

ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด – B – Bemuse & amuse

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Dictionary.com

ออกเสียง Bemuse = ‘bih-MYOOZ’

ออกเสียง amuse = ‘uh-MYOOZ’

Dictionary.com

WORDS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH BEMUSE

The verb bemuse (usuallyas the adjective bemused)

is similar in sound to amuse,

and has in fact taken on the meaning "to cause to be mildly amused."

Many usage experts and traditionalists

consider this a misuse of bemuse,

pointing out that its proper meaning is “to bewilder or confuse.”

However, the history and useof bemuse

has shown that its meaningis often ambiguous.

It's often the case that

one's feelings are a combination of bewilderment andamusement:

Their customs bemuse most Americans.

Even when it clearly means "to bewilder or confuse,"

bemuse usually retains a lighthearted tone:

one would not typically say: I was bemused by his motive for the murder.

Dictionary.com

SYNONYM STUDY FOR AMUSE

Amuse, divert,

entertain mean tooccupy the attention with something pleasant.

That which amuses

is usually playful or humorous and pleases the fancy.

Divert implies turning the attention fromserious thoughts or pursuits

 to something light, amusing, or lively.

That which entertains

usually does so because of a plan or program

that engages and holds the attention

by being pleasing and sometimes instructive.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Choose the Right Synonym for amuse

AMUSE, DIVERT, ENTERTAIN

mean to pass or cause to pass the time pleasantly.

AMUSE suggests that one's attention is engaged lightly.

amuse yourselves while I make dinner

DIVERT implies distracting attention from worry or routine occupation especially by something funny.

a light comedy to divert the tired businessman

ENTERTAIN suggests supplying amusement by specially contrived methods.

a magician entertaining children at a party

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Are amused and bemused synonyms?

Many people link bemused with amused,

believing that the former word carries the meaning

“amused, with a touch of something else.”

While this was not its original sense,

bemused has been used in such a fashion for long enough,

and by enough people, that the meaning

“having feelings of wry amusement especially from something that is surprising or perplexing"

has become established.

You may use bemuse inthis fashion if you wish,

but bear in mind that somepeople find it objectionable,

insisting that bemused and amused are entirely distinct and that bemused properly means “marked by confusion or bewilderment.”

It is worth noting that

before bemused indicated confusion

it had the meaning (especially among poets) “devoted tothe Muses.”

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Did You Know?

In 1735, British poet Alexander Pope lamented, inrhyme,

being besieged by "a parson much bemus'd in beer."

The cleric in question was apparently one of a horde of would-be poets who plagued Pope with requests that he read their verses.

Pope meant that the parson had found his muse - his inspiration - in beer.

That use of bemus'd harks back to a 1705 letter in which Pope wrote of "Poets … irrecoverably Be-mus'd."

In both letter and poem,

Pope used bemused to allude to being inspired by

or devoted to one of the Muses,

the Greek sister goddesses of art, music, and literature.

The lexicographers who followed him, however,

interpreted "bemus'd in beer" as meaning "left confused by beer,"

and their confusion gave riseto the first modern sense of bemused

above.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Usage Notes

Can 'bemuse' mean 'amuse'?

Or must it only mean 'todevote oneself to the Muses'?

Many people turn to a dictionary inorder to discover

something about a word.

Others will use this reference work in order that

they might help another person gainknowledge

(by which we mean

"it is used to prove to a husband/wife/co-worker, etc. that they are wrong").

And still others will see a dictionary

and think “I could spend some time telling the people

who wrote this book that they are wrong, and I amright.”

For instance, we offer the following definition

as one of the possible meanings of the word bemuse:

“to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement.”

This definition prompted someone to drop us a note:

This definition is incorrect.

The word has nothing to dowith amusement.

It is a synonym of confused, as in the sentence

"I am bemused as towhy a professed dictionary would have an incorrect definition.”

The reason why we have this definition is that

it is an accurate reflection of the way that people use bemuse.

It is often paired with the adverb wryly,

which makes sense when modifying the “amused” sense

(but would not make much sense

if it were modifying the “confused” sense of the word).

How should we feel now that streaking has hit home?

Wryly bemused, of course.
—The Bridgeport Post (Bridgeport, CT), 8 Mar. 1974

Full of a lilting, foxy-Grandpa sense of self-mockery,

his voice seems to do a little soft-show dance through every word,

pausing here and there to make sure that he

and his audience are still on the same, wryly bemused wavelength.
—Larry Kart, The Chicago Tribune, 22 Jul. 1984

Sometimes Vidal's impulse to be "devastating"

rather than complicatedly truthful

brings out an unattractive side of a critical voice that is otherwise mainly,

in Parini's words, "knowing, urbane, and wryly bemused.”
—William Pritchard, The Boston Globe, 11 Oct. 2015

There is a good deal ofconfusion (or bemusement, if you prefer)

about the original meaning of bemuse.

A number of 18th- and 19th-century dictionaries

assigned the “bewilder”sense to this word after reading a line by the poet Alexander Pope written in 1735,

in which he referred to

“a parson much bemus’d in beer.”

Some dictionaries also took note of the fact

that several decades earlier (in a letter from 1705),

Pope had used the word in a different sense,

meaning “devoted to the Muses.”

For a good deal of time

it was assumed that Pope had used the word jocularly in 1705

(referring to the Muses),

and then again in 1735 (referring to being confused).

It now appears likely that Pope was using the word

to refer to Muses in both occasions.

And recent research has shown that

he was not the first person to use this word;

there are a number of instances

or bemused which occur before 1705, and they all are in reference to poets.

For other Sins they feel Remorse sometimes,
But sure no Poet e're had Qualms for Rhimes;
Alas! no wholesom Counsel can be us'd
By a poor harden'd Wretch, when once Bemus'd:
Then don't inhumanly your Pains mis-spend
On Reprobates, that you can never mend.
—Fr. Knapp, The Annual Miscellany, 1694

’Tis vain to counsel Authors once Bemus’d,
We Poets soon conceive that we’re abus’d.
—Francis Manning, Poems Upon Several Occasions and to Several persons, 1701

This, Lausus, was a brave, and noble Stroke;
The most Bemus’d could not have loftier spoke;
—Plain Right Down Lover of Truth and Honesty, Nine Satyrs, or Moral Poems, 1703

So, it seems possible that bemuse

has taken on more than one "mistaken" definition.

The “amused” sense came about from many people

confusing the word with amuse,

and the “confused, befuddled” sense came from

a series of dictionaries misreadingAlexander Pope.

This has been your daily glimpse inside the sausage-factory of semantic change.

(You can use the word bemused to mean "wryly amused,"

but you should be aware that some people will think less of you for doing so.)

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Words at Play

We Made You a Bunch of Usage Limericks

You're welcome.

Amuse & Bemuse

Some writers are often accused
Of conflating amused and bemused
The first makes you smile
(it’s close to beguile)
While the latter usually means you’re confused

The initial meaning of bemuse

(and the one that is strongly preferred by many usage guides)

is “to make confused.”

However, this word is foundused by some writers in other ways,

such as “to occupy the attention of,”

and “to cause to have feelings of wry or tolerant amusement.”

This latter sense is likelyinfluenced by the word’s similarity to amuse.

And in case you weren’tbemused enough already,

amuse previously was commonly used in

the senses of “bewilder,” “bemuse,” and “absorb.”

The most common senses of amuse today

are “to entertain or occupyin a light, playful, or pleasant manner”

and “to appeal tothe sense of humor of.”

Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary

Bemuse & amuse

When you bemuse someone,

you confuse them, and not necessarily inan entertaining way.

Don’t confuse this word with “amuse.”