Tabishland

Well...I think of nonplussed as having a meaning more like "confused." "Plus" in latin is "more," so maybe it's sort of a value judgment. Those who are confused are without "plus" = they don't have enough!

As for non sequitor, it comes from the verb "sequor," which actually does mean "follow."

Joe. No offense, my friend, but you've been hanging out at C-MU too long if you think this is the kind of thing comedians make jokes about.
 

Joe, here's an answer to "non sequitur": [Latin nōn sequitur, it does not follow : nōn, not + sequitur, third person sing. present tense of sequī, to follow.]

There's a sort of argument going on at work concerning the use, or interchangeability, of the words "regardless" and "irregardless". I recall seeing a list of words like this somewhere. Words like these bug me.

I always kind of liked Latin.
 

"What's another word for a thesaurus?"- Steven Wright
 

and why if people say something is "out of whack" do they never say its "in whack" or "so whack?"
 

Just today I said to FFNell "Dr. Tim is whack. Word up, that mofo be whack." Really. Ask her...
 

I always say "its so in whack" Not really. Joe I get frustrated with Latin too.

As you might remember Dr.T, I was not your most brilliant student, that was Tim, and God help the classes of 2003 & 2004 because some "smart" administrator thought because I could teach theatre I could teach English composition as well. Yikes, look at my run on sentences...

I really enjoy this sight that I found when we were studying word/phrase origins.

http://www.word-detective.com

When it first appeared in the 18th century, "whack" meant simply "to beat or strike vigorously," probably formed from the sound of such a blow. "Wacky" (or "whacky") may simply liken the eccentricities of a "wacko" to the results of a blow to the head. "Whack" as a noun became thieves' slang in the late 18th century for "share of the loot" (possibly in the same sense we use "cut" today) and later came to mean "agreement or bargain." By the late 19th century, "out of whack" had come to mean "out of proper order or alignment," possibly from a further development of "whack" meaning "agreement or expectation."

Nonplussed, the usage is just about precisely the opposite of the accepted meaning of "nonplussed," a meaning solidly rooted in the development of the word. Formed directly from the Latin phrase "non plus" (meaning "not more"), "nonplus" first appeared in English around 1582 as a noun meaning "a point at which no more can be done, a dead end." By 1606 we were using "nonplussed" to describe the state of being overwhelmed and exasperated by an event or circumstance that poses an insoluble dilemma or seems intolerable (i.e., "I can't take any more of this"). Therefore, if John were to be truly "nonplussed" when the bat entered the room, he would have to run around in circles waving his arms and shrieking like any normal person, not just sit there looking superior.

Nothing on non sequitur
 

David, I'm going to start saying "in whack." Right now. Here I go.

Wow, the blog is really in whack lately!
 

Joe, you can bring this up with my wife at TabTwo. She enjoys helping people understand language, as she has taught English at WVU for fifteen years (or so).

BTW, since there was also a Dennis Miller reference here....didn't he attend CMU?
 

You know, I sure as hell would rather be in whack than out of whack!
 

Nell....that's just whack!