# Today's word usage pet peeve: "temper"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 19, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328 "2013-06-19T04:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/21 "2013-06-20T15:09:22Z")
I am pretty sure if we were to probe your language history, we would find instances of presently used in that manner, you just didn’t notice it. No matter, and although I don’t usually like to encourage this sort of thing, presently originally did mean simply “at this moment”. The differentiation almost always, if not unreservedly always, occurs via the tense. Future tense + presently means sooner or later. Present tense + presently means now.
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/22 "2013-06-20T15:14:20Z")
Well, presently, I’ll keep my ears open for this egregious misuse. 😉
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### Author:  [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/23 "2013-06-20T15:16:30Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#):
>
> A “pet” is an animal, and I see nothing in the OP that indicates any peeves with animals.
A pet peeve isn’t an animal, it’s a metaphor. Don’t get in a pet about it. 😛
From Google “define pet”:
> [@](#):
>
> pet
> /pet/
> Noun
>
> 1. A domestic or tamed animal or bird kept for companionship or pleasure and treated with care and affection.
> 2. A fit of sulking or ill humor: “Mother’s in a pet”.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/24 "2013-06-20T17:06:48Z")
The only place I’ve seen “presently” used to mean “the future,” IIRC, is a book written about fifty years ago.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/25 "2013-06-20T17:50:03Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> [**My toddler has a temper. Advice wanted**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693992&highlight=temper)
Sorry, I meant I’ve never heard someone use “temper” to mean “ability to control emotional volatility.” I’ve only heard it the other way.
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### Author:  [@JamezD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamezD)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/26 "2013-10-09T22:49:22Z")
Nice to know someone is paying attention to the small details. This has to be near the top of the top-ten misused words list.
Original meaning completely lost. Temper has moved from the “restraint against anger” to become the anger itself.
Thanks, jim
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### Author:  [@JamezD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamezD)
#### Post date: [October 9, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/27 "2013-10-09T22:59:02Z")
Seems to me that the reason “presently” is up for discussion is that when someone says presently, they’re using it as a mildly sarcastic temporary appeasement, as in “I’ll get to it presently”, which seems to indicate “not now”, “I’ll get to it in good time”, or “I’ll get to it when you stop bugging me about it.”
Thanks, jim
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### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/28 "2013-10-11T22:47:31Z")
I’ve seen presently used in the “near future” way. Usually by some snooty butler or something. “The master shall arrive presently…”
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/29 "2013-10-11T22:57:52Z")
And now for an almost unrelated [song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9B1nPjWLXA) that I like.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/30 "2013-10-11T23:09:31Z")
I used to watch The People’s Court back when Joe Wapner was the judge, and though I liked him generally, he used to ask people “Do you have a temper?” when what he MEANT was “Do you have a short fuse and a tendency to lose control?” Someone can get very, very mad and yet not fly off the handle.
My grandfather used to rant that “great” used to and still should mean “large”. My old podiatrist used to refer to big toes as great toes…but he was pretty old. I miss him.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/31 "2013-10-12T05:50:15Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> “Narcotic”? Well, I highly doubt crystal meth has put many people to sleep or done much as a pain killer but law enforcement still calls it a narcotic. Complaining that words have changed meanings doesn’t have much traction around here.
“Narcotic” is a good example of how some usages become entrenched because we need a single collective term to cover a disparate group of things. In some contexts the relevant fact is that some drugs, regardless of their pharmacological effects, are subject to stricter laws and controls than ordinary prescription meds. That’s rather a mouthful so it’s easier just to say “narcotics”. I’ve even heard pharmaciststs use the word this way when referring to the legal or regulatory aspects of a controlled substance. “I can’t fill this, it’s a narcotic and your doctor forgot to check the quantity box”–they really do make them cross their t’s on those things, don’t they.
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### Author:  [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2013, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/32 "2013-10-12T11:28:33Z")
Awesome.
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### Author:  [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/33 "2013-10-12T12:14:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> People, this is a tongue-in-cheek rant. There are no battles, twisted panties, or cleavage involved. Let’s just have a little fun.
😉
“forte” for a strength is from French and should be pronounced “fort” - “for-tay” is from the Italian for “loud,” as in pianoforte.
So when I hear someone say X is their fortay, I chuckle inside and think “that’s their _loud_!”
And then I sigh and think how I _really_ need to let that go 😛
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/34 "2013-10-12T12:29:27Z")
On “presently”: think of “presenting,” as in a person or show, or “a present,” as in a wrapped gift. These are _on the way_, things you are _about_ to see.
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/35 "2013-10-12T12:35:46Z")
On “temper”: think of “tempering,” as for glass, or steel, or chocolate. These are processes to make the materials strong, stable, uniform. _Steady. Reliable._
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### Author:  [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2013, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/36 "2013-10-13T12:41:21Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> [**My toddler has a temper. Advice wanted**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=693992&highlight=temper)
As the author of the piece which got your panties in a twist, I could point to a number of dictionaries which define the word as
> [@](#):
>
> A tendency to become easily angry or irritable: a quick temper.
> [@](#):
>
> temper
> noun
>
> : the tendency of someone to become angry
>
> : a state of being angry
>
> : calmness of mind
The thing I love about pedantic people is that they are so often wrong.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/37 "2013-10-13T14:32:27Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#):
>
> As the author of the piece which got your panties in a twist, I could point to a number of dictionaries which define the word as…
That was exactly my point. I was not criticizing any individual usage, much less yours; I was lamenting that through frequent misuse over a long time, the word has come to mean the opposite of its original meaning. That is why you were able to find such a definition in a descriptive source. (See also: _comprise_)
I referenced your post because someone said they were not familiar with that usage, so I provided an example. (I think it turned out they meant that they were not familiar with the \*original \*meaning.)
[sigh] Again with the twisted panties. I would request that you read all of my posts in the thread. Also note what forum we are in.
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### Author:  [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/38 "2013-10-13T15:30:58Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> I was lamenting that through frequent misuse over a long time, the word has come to mean the opposite of its original meaning.
Semantic shift and semantic weakening are our constant neighbors when it comes to language. If we trace any word back far enough, inevitably we end up with ‘wrong’ meanings. What we should be concerned with is what the word means now.
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### Author:  [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/39 "2013-10-13T15:48:11Z")
Clearly “temper,” like many words, has multiple related usages, at least one of which is or can appear opposite the others.
In times of transition, or potential transition, it’s reasonable to consider what words are coming, or might come, to mean. Do those usages improve the language?
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### Author:  [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-word-usage-pet-peeve-temper/661328/40 "2013-10-13T17:45:14Z")
I once heard a sportscaster talk about the ‘enormity’ of a college football team’s front line (gridiron football, that is).
They didn’t look particularly evil to me. Large, yes, but not evil.
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