Often in everyday speech we hear words that we don’t understand clearly enough. Absurdity is one of such obscure terms. What is the meaning of the word "absurd"? Where did it come from and how to use it correctly in your speech? All this will be described below.
The etymology of the word "absurd"
This concept entered the Russian language in the 19th century from Western literature. However, the very origin of the word is ancient and has Latin roots. Absurdus in Latin means something inconsistent and incoherent. And the related word surd means deafness.
It is believed that the ancient Romans had in mind the modern meaning of the word, that is, they understood absurdity as a conversation between the deaf and the deaf - that is, an incoherent and ridiculous dialogue.
Also, some linguists believe that this concept was formed in the Middle Ages and it was invented by scholastic scholars.
The lexical meaning of the word "absurd"
The concept under study has deep philosophical significance. “Absurd” generally means illogical, irrational, it is something that cannot be analyzed. However, this is not a lack of meaning. Absurdity implies a certain meaning, but only one that is not comparable with reality and experience. It is difficult to understand, comprehend. We can imagine it in the head, but not in life.
The absurdity is the opposite of meaning; it contradicts reason. In art, absurdity spawned a trend such as surrealism. The nonsense and even craziness depicted in the paintings of S. Dali attracts with the fact that it is unusual, not the way it should be.
However, absurdity may turn out to be a reality in the end. The boundaries of our thinking are blurred, no one can argue that what is now considered absurd in a hundred years will not be ordinary and normal. If a gentleman in the 19th century were told that his lover could be called by video chat, chat and see her, he would have thought it was absurd and this could not be.
Synonyms and examples of use
The word absurdity has several vivid synonyms that will help you to enter it into speech more easily:
- nonsense;
- absurdity;
- nonsense;
- awkwardness;
- rave;
- nonsense.
In order to see how the word "absurdity" works in speech, we give a few examples:
- Absurdity has become almost a cult of 20th-century philosophy.
- She expressed herself quite absurdly and absurdly.
- Our mind does not accept the absurd, but fiercely fights with it.
Thus, we found that absurdity is not just the absence of coherent thought, but a whole philosophy that fights against logical foundations rooted in the human mind. Everything that does not fit in our head is absurd. But is everything that is inaccessible to understanding absurd?