Friday, August 05, 2022
Speech Styles of the Rich and Famous
The Duchess of Sussex, in Vogue magazine (June 28, 2022), on her husband's feeling about the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization:
On guttural as a mistake for visceral see:
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His reaction last week was guttural, like mine.Guttural (from Latin guttur = throat), meaning "relating to the throat," is unrelated to gut (Old English guttas, Germanic *gut-, Proto-Indo-European *gheu- = pour), meaning "bowels, entrails". If you have a gut reaction to something, your reaction isn't guttural, it's visceral.
On guttural as a mistake for visceral see:
- Dot Wordsworth, "Does Meghan Markle know what 'guttural' means?" The Spectator (June 30, 2022)
- Benjamin Zimmer, "Guttural Politics" Language Log (November 6, 2005)
