But why all these new words? Why not the old, familiar, comforting words?
It's because a healthy vocabulary isn't about trying to show the residents of Fawcett Hill Road that you're brighter than them.
To the contrary, it's about selecting the right word and using it correctly, whatever one's pay grade or station in life.
Even municipal corporate attorneys whose earnings never make the public record are eligible for this enlightening expansion of personal horizons, and really, for those of us who want nothing more than to understand why required development approvals aren't procured before the bulldozers denude whole forests, all we have is time -- and the opportunity to learn something.
Today's word is risible, which rhymes with visible. Think of it as pertaining to the business of laughability, as in this example.
The governing doctrine of Gahanism is risible for its patent untruth.
Synonyms for risible include humorous, amusing, comical, droll, funny, laughable, ludicrous, and ridiculous.
risible
ris·i·ble (rĭz′ə-bəl)
adj.
1. Relating to laughter or used in eliciting laughter.
2. Eliciting laughter; ludicrous.
3. Capable of laughing or inclined to laugh.
[Late Latin rīsibilis, from Latin rīsus, past participle of rīdēre, to laugh.]
ris′i·bil′i·ty (-bĭl′ĭ-tē) n.
ris′i·bly adv.
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