Friday, June 26, 2009

Occasional

OCCASIONAL, adj. Afflicting us with greater or less frequency. That, however, is not the sense in which the word is used in the phrase "occasional verses," which are verses written for an "occasion," such as an anniversary, a celebration or other event. True, they afflict us a little worse than other sorts of verse, but their name has no reference to irregular recurrence.

2009 Update: At a frequency one tenth as common as a habit and ten times a lucky break, describing both. For example, OCCASIONAL is spelled "occassional" or "ocassional" occasionally.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

on this occasion
i deleted
my comment...
darn darn darn
peace

Nessa said...

Occasionally, this occasion has occasioned the need for an occasional chair.

quilly said...

Are you making fun of my occassional spelling errors?

Cooper said...

Occasionally: Not today

Jamie Dawn said...

Terrific update!

Occasionally, Bierce's definition trumps yours, but not very often.

:-)

Doug The Una said...

Peace, Bear. You can add it back later.

And sometimes a sofa, Nessa.

Nope, Quilly, I added the second sentence after I realized I'd titled the post "Occassional"

On the contrary, Coop.

That's because his friends are dead and mine are cheerful, JD.

TLP said...

OCCASIONAL: A vague word with no true meaning.

What you see as occasional, I may see as frequent, or rare. People think they send me chocolate occasionally, but actually it's a rare occasion when they do.

Tom & Icy said...

Occasional, not neurotic.

Anonymous said...

on occasion
have been noted
to comment twice
...empty house
first in some
time
only that sound
of keying
a garden delight
...
Enjoy & Peace

unflipped said...

I am occasionally mesmerized by the lovely Dionelle, but vow to let it never happen again unless, of course, the occasion arises!!

Jim said...

Occasionally I find an occasion to abstain from blogging. Yesterday was one of those days.
..