I've always thought of peril as being a mild sort of trouble – the kind of thing you'd face with your chums before going home for lashings of ginger beer. The variations of perilled and perilling appeared even more benign.I thought wrong.
Peril actually mean serious and immediate danger.
Don't know about you, but I'd rather avoid any and all forms of perilousness.
Yes, I always thought it was a 'dangerous' word!
ReplyDeleteA point to you, Rosemary.
DeleteHi Patsy - yes peril can be used in various ways can't it ... but to get the meaning across sometimes needs body language - i.e. the understanding that it just means watch out in a light-hearted fashion ... and not a real peril as here ... tides and quicksands: very dangerous ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteBody language should certainly be a clue with this one, Hilary. If the body is fleeing, then it's probably real trouble!
DeleteGreat peril - think someone tied to the railroad tracks. That's pretty serious.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is – yet somehow they always escape.
DeleteAt school one of the hymns we sung was 'For those in Peril on the sea', so I always understood it to mean serious danger.
ReplyDeleteWe sang that on Trafalgar Day in my last day job. It really should have been a clue.
DeleteIn my Irish childhood, we were often warned against doing dangerous things by saying: 'don't do that on the peril of your life'. Having said that, I often used words for years without knowing their actual meaning, which is not a very good habit for someone who considers themselves to be a writer.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that expression too, Maria.
DeleteFor some reason your blog has stopped being mobile phone friendly so it's just as well I can access you on my iPad. Not a perilous situation, but still rather annoying.
ReplyDeleteOh - don't know what's changed, Maggie. I'll look at the settings and see if I can fix it.
DeleteRemember "The Perils of Pauline?"
ReplyDeleteNo. I shall Google.
DeleteYikes - she does seem to have had a perilous life!
DeletePerilousness? You made that up!
ReplyDeleteYou can't prove that, Liz.
DeleteI love the quirky juxtaposition of "fast" and "quick"
ReplyDeleteEspecially as there's a danger of getting stuck fast, and therefore not being quick in any sense of the word.
DeleteI always thought it meant danger!
ReplyDeleteYou were right – wonder why I've always mentally down played it?
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