Saturday, July 16, 2005

Bad Omens

You notice how everything that ever "bodes" does so badly? "This doesn't bode well." "This bodes ill." I've never heard the phrase "this bodes well," not even sarcastically, I think.

So, given that "boding" seems to be an exclusively negative thing, why don't we all just save ourselves the extra word and say, "this bodes." Or perhaps, for the "stoner" version, "man, this totally bodes."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

from dictionary.com: (note the part near the middle)

bode1 ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bd)
v. bod·ed, bod·ing, bodes
v. tr.
To be an omen of: heavy seas that boded trouble for small craft.
Archaic. To predict; foretell.

v. intr.
To be an omen; portend: The peace accord bodes well for the city under siege.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Middle English boden, from Old English bodian, to announce. See bheudh- in Indo-European Roots.]

[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

this entry bodes well for the word bode?

- the mole

Tom said...

Mmm, I've heard "bodes well."

DrHeimlich said...

Hmmm.... I guess I've just been living in a "good bode free" zone, then.

Tom said...

That being said, I prefer to have things augur well for me, instead of bode.

thisismarcus said...

The Omen III was a bad omen.

Anonymous said...

This post bodes chunks?