Hi, I’m Marc Franco,
and this is Word of the Week with Snap Language.
abject / ˈæb dʒɛkt/ /æbˈdʒɛkt /
“Abject” is a bit of a negative word.
People use it with words like “poverty” or “cowardice.”
“Many people worldwide still live in abject poverty.”
utterly hopeless
abject misery
To say something was a failure is bad enough.
You can qualify it with “abject” and highlight how bad, how severe, it was.
My trying to learn Japanese comes to mind...
“My attempts at learning Japanese resulted in abject failure.”
extreme... abject
Have you seen YouTubers get into some kind of online scandal?...
Then, they post an apology video.
(Oh, that’s nice!)
(How big of them...)
Oh!
They end up being abject apologies.
Uh-oh...
I see.
It’s a humble apology but it’s meant to gain favor.
An abject apology can be worse than no apology at all.
It’s like watching a politician’s abject flattery of a president.
It makes them look weak.
Flattery is usually a way to gain favor.
On the receiving end,
flattery can make you feel good about yourself, but
when people use it as a way to curry favor with you...
you know, abject flattery, ... ugh...
That’s never good, and it almost always backfires on you big time.
abject poverty
abject misery
an abject apology
abject flattery
abject
When you’re in an abject state, people often notice it
because you end up looking wretched.
wretched / ˈrɛtʃ ɪd /
In a very unfortunate condition.
Being in a wretched condition or situation is bad enough... but it also evokes pity.
When someone’s in poor health you feel for them.
When you say someone lives in a wretched state of health,
Ooh...
you’re underscoring how pitiable the situation is.
After wars, countries are often left in wretched conditions.
Yeah, it’s never good... very sad, actually.
“Wretched” can also express outrage.
“You and your abject apologies!”
“What a wretched thing to say!
My apology was sincere.”
“What a wretched thing to do!
Why did you think abject flattery would make me feel better?”
[chuckles] Okay, guys!
Calm down.
Sometimes people use “wretched” without even knowing
exactly what it really means.
That’s when “wretched” simply intensifies a negative feeling toward something.
We hear people saying,
“I’m tired of wearing these wretched face masks everywhere!”
“Oh, it’s just a piece of cloth, you wretched fool.”
[chuckles]
These are such harsh words...
“Wretched" just shows your outrage or distaste for something.
wretched / ˈrɛtʃ ɪd /
abject / ˈæb dʒɛkt/ /æbˈdʒɛkt /
See the -ject part of “abject?”
It’s an awful lot like “injection” or “interjection,” isn’t it?
Well, they share a common root word: -ject.
That’s a Latin root word for to “throw” or “propel.”
Like a... jet!
You have French “jeter”... throw... cast.
You have a jet of water...
An aircraft propelled by a jet of air pushing it forward... it’s a jet.
How about an “interjection?”
You know, like “Hey!
Ouch!
Stop!”
What do interjections have to do with jets of water or jet planes?
“Inter” has a sense of “between...”
You “interact” with someone... interact... act between two things
or to act back and forth on each other.
“Interjection”... throwing and idea out there between other ideas...
as in “interrupting” the flow of ideas.
interrupt...
intervene...
interject...
Like when you say,
“In Pompeii, people were going about their daily lives when... boom!
the volcano erupted.”
“Boom!” is an interjection...
I just throw it in there between my thoughts.
Words seem to have a life of their own.
They may start out meaning something, people start using it,
changing its meaning, until
Voilà!
the word has evolved... it means something else now...
From “interjection,” we came up with a new word: “to interject.”
Why not?
“In between” some ideas, you introduce a related idea.
You interject...
You kind of “interrupt” the main idea and “interject” something related.
You inject it into the conversation.
Oh, if I may interject an announcement here...
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wretched / ˈrɛtʃ ɪd /
abject / ˈæb dʒɛkt/ /æbˈdʒɛkt /
interject / ˌɪn tərˈdʒɛkt /
How about an “object?”
That can’t have anything to do with throwing or propelling?
Can it?
“Ob” ... “in front of” or “up against” something.
Something that’s thrown in front of you...
is an object.
To object is definitely about “throwing something in front of you,” right?
“Throwing something up against you?”
“I object to your proposal!”
Well, yes, I’m throwing a wrench into your proposal.
I’m throwing a reason or opposition up against your proposal.
I object to it!
I object to your insinuation!
That’s interesting, isn’t it?
We think of an object as just a thing.
But it comes from the idea of something thrown in front of you.
It’s an obstacle.
That’s why we say, “Money is no object!”
You’re essentially saying money is not something that gets in the way.
It’s not an obstacle.
It’s no object.
Spend as much money as you need.
This morning I realized I haven’t left the house in a few days.
I work from home, so I don’t have to interact with people all the time.
I looked at myself in the mirror and said out loud,
“Oh my!
What’s going on here?!”
It wasn’t really a question.
It was an interjection!
I looked wretched!
I hadn’t shaved in a few days, and I was wearing some wretched old clothes.
Money is tight, but I’m not living in abject poverty or anything!
I don’t object to being casual, especially at home;
besides, appearances are subjective.
But, objectively, I needed some grooming!
Hah!
Now that I’m all shaved, I don’t look wretched anymore.
I no longer look like a reject from last week’s bake sale.
Okay, I didn’t look as bad as that cupcake.
I object to that comparison.
Well... actually I did look kind of like that.
Thank you!
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