# "Normalcy" is not a word! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 9, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589 "2002-12-09T20:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/1 "2002-12-09T20:02:51Z")
I…have…had…enough. While listening to the BBC Worldservice, I am listening to an interesting report on possible post-Saddam Iraqi leadership possibilities. I am listening intently, when out of nowhere, the aural pollution known as “normalcy” goes into my ears. AUGH! That word was a screw-up by a none-too-bright US president (Harding)! It wasn’t a word back then, and it isn’t a word now! The word, my dear friends, is “normality.” I hate to sound like the French, but our beautiful English language is being polluted by idiocy. I implore all of my English-speaking brethren to immediately cease using that accursed word. Then, just maybe, we can return to a state of…normality. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![B.Pants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@B.Pants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Pants)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/2 "2002-12-09T20:07:07Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=normalcy) lists “normalcy” as a real word. It gives the definition as “normality” which leads me to believe that the two are both interchangeable and correct. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/3 "2002-12-09T20:12:36Z")
[Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) only lists it because it’s commonly used. Numerous obscenities are at the site, as well. It doesn’t make them words that one wants to use, if one wants to sound intelligent. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/4 "2002-12-09T20:14:46Z")
… and you’re just complaining about it now? Merriam & Webster online says it’s been in use for almost 150 years. Say, did you know that ‘augh’ isn’t a word? And is it okay if your sistren continue using the word? ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/5 "2002-12-09T20:21:25Z")
Phrases get coined. Common usage can make these phrases valid tools for communication (frequently followed by a dictionary appearence). Sometimes a person can make up a word that never existed but _fits_. The word then spreads and becomes common. Language is fluid, not static. Rules are suggestive and came about as a way to describe language not the other way around. If someone uses a word, and the listener gets what the speaker meant, then communication has occured. The communication is what is important, not the inert and lifeless words (read: tools). Using slang or the venacular does not make one sound unintelligent neccesarily. In fact, in some cases, it can make the speaker seem more endearing and less condescending. Many people do not enjoy listening to people who appear to try to talk over them. That’s not to say that people who ignore grammar are always intelligent, just that how often someone breaks grammar rules is a poor gauge of their intelect. A better measure would be how well the speaker can relate meaning. DaLovin’ Dj ---
**Author:** ![Robb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/6 "2002-12-09T20:26:36Z")
Yeah, I think using ‘normalcy’ is idiotity. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/7 "2002-12-09T20:26:39Z")
Where do you think words came from in the first place, **Soup**? Somebody has to make them up. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/8 "2002-12-09T20:27:07Z")
It’s been around since 1857… Sound legit to me. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/9 "2002-12-09T20:28:09Z")
From the Oxford English Dictionary: " Hence normalcy chiefly U.S. = NORMALITY; normalist. 1857 DAVIES & PECK Math. Dict. 386 If we denote the co-ordinates of the point of contact, and **normalcy** , by x´´ and y´´. 1878 BELLINGHAM tr. Haulleville’s Aspects Cath. & Protestantism 184 The fellow-countrymen of Ovid, of Horace and of Virgil, were not all normalists. 1893 Nation 30 July 47/1 Believers…in the mathematical **normalcy** of the female mind. 1920 W. G. HARDING in F. L. Allen Only Yesterday (1931) ii. 41 America’s present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but **normalcy** ; not revolution but restoration. 1929 G. N. CLARK in S.P.E. Tract XXXIII. 417 If…‘ **normalcy** ’ is ever to become an accepted word it will presumably be because the late President Harding did not know any better. 1932 G. K. CHESTERTON Sidelights II. xiv. 182 Life in a modern town, whatever else it is, is not **Normalcy**. 1939 John o’ London’s 9 June 369/1 That insistent **normalcy** of men who cannot afford to permit themselves to be thrown off balance. 1951 M. MCLUHAN Mech. Bride 47/1 Professor Kinsey’s surveys, with their economist-like **normalcy** charts. 1957 V. J. KEHOE Technique Film & T.V. Make-up i. 17 On stage, where strong lights and distance of the actors from the audience wash out and flatten the features, make-up restores to the face the look of **normalcy** in both color and contour. 1965 New Statesman 7 May 733/1 A kind of spectral **normalcy**." Sounds like a word that has crept over from mathematics. Shun it…_Shun it, I say!!_ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/10 "2002-12-09T20:29:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eats\_Crayons \* > \*\*It’s been around since 1857… > > Sound legit to me. \*\* Says someone who eats crayons… Sorry, E\_C, nothing personal, I just can’t take anything you ever say seriousity. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/11 "2002-12-09T20:32:53Z")
I thought, at one time, that it was just a US usage thing myself (thanks, **kambuckta** , for th’ correction! 🙂 ). But, I still prefer “normality”. Just have to _find_ th’ damned stuff, is all … ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/12 "2002-12-09T20:37:57Z")
_Normality_ only goes back to 1849, so it’s not like it was around much before _normalcy_. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/13 "2002-12-09T20:49:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*Says someone who eats crayons… Sorry, E\_C, nothing personal, I just can’t take anything you ever say seriousity. \*\* Oh, yeah? Well, munch me! …😛 ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/14 "2002-12-09T20:57:03Z")
then someone better tell People Against Goodness And Normalcy! ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/15 "2002-12-09T21:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Using slang or the venacular does not make one sound unintelligent neccesarily. > [@](#): > > Yeah, I think using ‘normalcy’ is idiotity. Of course sometimes it does just that. It’s a fine line, ya know? DaLovin’ Dj ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/16 "2002-12-09T21:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ice Wolf \* > \*\*I thought, at one time, that it was just a US usage thing myself (thanks, **kambuckta** , for th’ correction! 🙂 ). > > But, I still prefer “normality”. Just have to _find_ th’ damned stuff, is all … \*\* I saw this thread and I just _had_ to stick my nose in…😃 I _like_ normalcy. But I’ve never heard of ab-normalcy. Then again, what is ‘gruntled’? ---
**Author:** ![B.Pants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@B.Pants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Pants)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/17 "2002-12-09T21:14:17Z")
> [@](#): > > [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) only lists it because it’s commonly used. Numerous obscenities are at the site, as well. It doesn’t make them words that one wants to use, if one wants to sound intelligent. I never said that it did or did not sound intelligent. The issue, as you stated it was: > [@](#): > > It wasn’t a word back then, and it isn’t a word now! The obscenities are words, just as normalcy is. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/18 "2002-12-09T21:20:53Z")
normality just sounds awkward to me, I’d rather use normalcy, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/19 "2002-12-09T21:22:48Z")
Man, I hate it when people think they can just make up words, like they’re God or something. I tell you: if it ain’t in the Bible, it ain’t a real word! Huh? Well, where you **you** think words come from? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589/20 "2002-12-09T21:23:51Z")
> [@](#): > > where you you think words come from? Gaudere, take me now. Daniel [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/normalcy-is-not-a-word/141589.md?page=2)