Cecil says Jeopardous not a -dous word??

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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COLUMN: What are the four common English words ending in “-dous”?
COLUMN LINK: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_236.html

Jeopardous is not a fifth -dous word according to Cecil?

Not as common as hazardous certainly, but “jeopardous” seems to me like a word I’ve heard, at times, throughout my life (in the USA).

Cecil may not know how to spell jeopardous.

Cecil spelled it “jeapardous” in the article in question. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t find it used since 1661. I’ve never heard “jeapardous” in my life, so there I agree with Cecil. :slight_smile:

But jeopardous does indeed seem like a fifth -dous word to me.

Here’s some occurrences from the present day from a brief net search to further rankle Cecil…

“Local FOP Executive Director Brock Parks said, “Officers are already authorized to use deadly force in certain circumstances, so to take away an approved non-lethal tool places both officers and suspects in a potentially jeopardous situation.””

“MEUs conduct NEOs as a result of jeopardous events such as natural disasters and riots that require a military force to safely evacuate civilians from harm…”

“Not only is DUI racing on public streets illegal in all 50 states, it is the most jeopardous and narcissistic act the youth of today is getting involved in.”

(Type some of the text above in quotes in google if you doubt these quotes exist on the net.)

– Paul from Chicago

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Cecil’s column is dated 9 November 1990. Perhaps the word “jeopardous” has developed since then in American usage. I’ve certainly not come across it here.

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Tremendous stupendous, horrendous and hazardous are everyday words.

Such words as jeapardous are normally reserved by folks who resort to using a Thesaurus to try and sound classy, cultured, erudite, chic, or refined.

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I’ve heard of jeopardous. Mainly through British literature when I was growing up. It isn’t common or everyday, but it’s certainly used.

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The question was not, “Can you list every word ever used in the English language in the last six centuries that ended in -dous?”

It was, “According to Asimov, there are four commonly used…” etc.

So. You wanna make a case that “jeopardous” is more common than “hazardous?” Because that’s what you appear to be saying.

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Actually the OP clearly seems to be saying the opposite: “Not as common as hazardous certainly, but “jeopardous” seems to me like a word I’ve heard, at times, throughout my life (in the USA).”

I tried a google fight of jeopardous vs. hazardous and the results were:
jeopardous 9,190 results
hazardous 48,700,000 results

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Never heard of “jeopardous” before now.

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I laughed at that one.

RR

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That’s MR. Jeopardous to you, bub! :stuck_out_tongue:

As for the OP: the word is limited to the unabridged version of the Merriam-Webster Online. That indicates it’s pretty much not standard fare at all.