Wednesday, January 9, 2008

erstwhile

familiar word / vague understanding of the meaning

Definition of erstwhile:
adv.
"In the past; at a former time; formerly.
adj. Former: our erstwhile companions." (answers.com)


Where I ran across it:

From the same Dick Cavett article as "argot" (see previous post).

“...The 'Imus incident’ burned so brightly way back when, knocking big stories from front pages. It seems so long ago…Among the erstwhile Imus program’s virtues was that it provided a welcome relief from political correctness..."
My two cents:
The word erstwhile reminded me that while I am totally familiar with the word, I am embarrassingly vague over its usage. The first step is admitting the problem.

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