February 19, 2008
Word in Context: insouciance
Here is a short one from Judge Posner: “The parties, illustrating lawyers’ typical insouciance about quantification, have not told us what the retired pilots’ unsecured claims are likely to be worth.” In re UAL Corp., 468 F.3d 456 (7th Cir. 2006). Insouciance means characterized by a nonchalant or cheerful lack of concern.
As an aside, I challenge our readers to begin using “chalant” as a word; if one can be nonchalant, one should certainly be able to be chalant.
The Write Bailiwick 
D. Kelly said,
February 19, 2008 at 10:02 pm
By all means, we need to get “chalant” in circulation, as well as “gruntled.”
Your Husband said,
February 20, 2008 at 12:05 am
Here’s something interesting from http://www.esmerel.com/circle/wordlore/gruntled.html
And are you gruntled yet? The “dis” of disgruntled is not the same as the “dis” of “dismayed.” It means “completely”, and so “gruntled,” just as it sounds, is an old word that means “grumbling.” Today, however, “gruntled” has found its way into dictionaries as a word in its own right. If you look at the origin, you will see that it gives “gruntled” as a back-formation from “disgruntled.” People assumed that “disgruntled” was a negative and invented the word “gruntled.” Similar back-formations add new words to the English dictionary every year. One of the most well-known as a back-formation is “edit, ” which arose because the word “editor” sounds as if it should mean “one who edits.”