# Is this an insult? (in Great Debates)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-insult-in-great-debates/710686>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [January 23, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-insult-in-great-debates/710686 "2015-01-23T16:27:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-insult-in-great-debates/710686/61 "2015-02-02T01:59:05Z")

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I used “bemused” today, as a sort of blend between the two definitions you just linked to.

I tend to use it to mean “Diverted” or “Distracted by thinking too deeply about it.”

“I might have gone on to respond, but I was bemused by the context.”

ETA: one of the joys of the word is that it invites a connotation of “amused.” It’s a way of saying, “I smiled” without actually saying “I smiled.”

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