Chandan writes:

I am confused between usage of word ‘LATEST’. Basically, it is being used in two opposite situations:
1. meaning late or last – “Return my book latest by Monday”
2. meaning most recent – “This is the latest book.”
How is “latest” is used in 2 opposite contexts?

English is often blamed for confusion and ambiguity that stems not from the language, but from the use of the language.

As an adjective, latest has the meaning “most recent.” Ex. This is the latest book. Here’s the latest news.

In order to use “latest” adverbially, with the meaning “at the last possible moment,” it needs to be placed in a phrase. Ex. Return my book on Monday at the latest.

Language can be a slippery beast, with the meanings of words changing over time. This can be a great source of confusion, especially if a word ends up with two distinct, even contradictory meanings. One example of this occurs with the word fulsome.

Fulsome now has two separate meanings and it isn’t always clear which meaning a writer intended. The original sense of the word, from as far back as 1250 according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was, simply, “abundance”. To give fulsome praise was to praise lavishly.

Some time after this the word began to take on a more negative sense of excess. It came to mean “obnoxiously full” rather than just full. To give fulsome praise now meant to give insincere or exaggerated praise.

More recently, the word has gone full circle and become more widely used in its original sense : abundant without any negative connotation. People describe praise as “fulsome” and imply no criticism. The problem is that the intended meaning of “fulsome apology” or “fulsome praise” isn’t clear. The word may be being used in a complimentary sense, or in an insulting one.

The Oxford Dictionary maintains that the negative sense of the word is the correct one. It says :

Although the earliest sense of fulsome was ‘abundant’, this is now regarded by many as incorrect; the correct meaning today is said to be ‘excessively flattering’. This gives rise to ambiguity: the possibility that while for one speaker fulsome praise will be a genuine compliment, for others it will be interpreted as an insult.

However, this seems out of step with much common usage. To avoid the ambiguity, perhaps the best approach is to avoid the word altogether and find a clearer alternative. If you choose to use it, be aware of the ambiguity.

In current usage, the English word noon refers to midday, the time when the sun reaches the meridian.

Look into the etymology of the word noon, and you will find that it comes from the Latin word for the number nine.

So why does our word for the time when both hands of the clock are on the twelve come from a word for nine?

Like the word noon itself, the original time-related meaning goes back to the Romans. They counted the hours of the day from sunrise. The “ninth hour” (nona hora) was about 3 p.m. our time.

Christians adopted Jewish customs of praying at certain hours. When Christian monastic orders were formed, a daily timetable was drawn up centered on hours for prayer.

According to the earliest schedules, the monks were required to pray at three-hour intervals: 6-9 p.m., 9 p.m.-midnight, midnight-3 a.m., and 3 a.m.-6 a.m. The prayers to be said at specified times during the day are known as the Divine Office and the times at which they are to be recited are the canonical hours:

Vigils: night
Matins: dawn
Lauds: dawn
Prime: 6 a.m. “first hour”
Terce: 9 a.m. “third hour”
Sext: noon “sixth hour”
None: 3 p.m. “ninth hour”
Vespers: sunset
Compline: before bed

Vigils was also known as the “Night Office.” Matins and Lauds originally referred to the prayers sung at dawn. In time, the Night Office came to be called Matins.

The shift in the meaning of noon from “3 p.m.” to “12 noon” began in the 12th century when the prayers said at the “ninth hour” were set back to the “sixth hour.”

By the year 1140, the Old English word non had taken on the meaning of “midday” or “midday meal.”

Like our words September, October, November, and December, noon is a fossil word that embeds customs of former ages.

Welcome to the fourth round of our poetry competition. We’ll have 16 qualifying rounds, two semi-finals, and then the final, where the winner will be elected.

The prize for the winner is a $100 Amazon gift card, and the three runners-up will get a free license for the Fanurio time tracking software (a sponsor of our blog).

Now to the poems!

Reader Arthur writes:

I was reading an article about a photographer. It was clear that the writer rated this photographer’s work and legacy very highly. He went on to say that

“It is impossible to underestimate his impact…”

I feel that ‘overestimate’ would have been more appropriate, but others are not so sure. What do you think?

Of course the writer meant “overestimate.”

estimate: verb, To value (subjectively); to attribute value to; to appreciate the worth of; to esteem, hold in (higher or lower) estimation.

overestimate:   trans. To attribute too high an estimated value to (a numerical quantity); to estimate (something) to be larger, better, or more important than it really is; (also) to hold in too high estimation.

under-estimate: verb, To rate or rank too low; to undervalue.
Note, OED hyphenates under-estimate. Merriam-Webster shows it as one word, underestimate.

Judging from a quick web cruise, the error of substituting underestimate for overestimate, especially in the construction beginning “it is impossible to” is widespread.

Here are just three examples I found online:

It’s impossible to underestimate how important George Strait was to country music in the mid-1980s. He’s credited with single-handedly saving the entire genre…

In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Roberto Rossellini made three films that helped to lay the foundations of modern cinema: “Rome Open City” (1945), “Paisan” (1946) and “Germany Year Zero” (1948). It’s almost impossible to underestimate the importance of these movies, both for the impact that their startling realism had on the audiences and filmmakers of the time and for the influence they continue to exert on directors.

It is impossible to underestimate how important it is to have a home insurance policy. Unless you have an interest in luxury yachts, your home will be the most expensive purchase you will make in your lifetime.

In each example, the topic being discussed–George Strait, the war movies, and home insurance–are clearly seen as being of great value. While it might be possible to underestimate their value, the intention is to point out that it is impossible to overestimate their value.

I did find one example of underestimate being used correctly:

At this point it’s pretty much impossible to underestimate Palin.

The context was a comment about the likelihood of Sarah Palin’s becoming President. The writer expressed the opinion that Palin has no chance at all. For that reason one can overestimate her chances, but it’s not possible to underestimate them.