Wednesday 15 February 2017

Peril

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.

21 comments:

Rosemary Gemmell said...

Yes, I always thought it was a 'dangerous' word!

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi 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

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Great peril - think someone tied to the railroad tracks. That's pretty serious.

Carolb said...

At school one of the hymns we sung was 'For those in Peril on the sea', so I always understood it to mean serious danger.

Maria said...

In 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.

Maggie May said...

For 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.

Oscar Case said...

Remember "The Perils of Pauline?"

liz young said...

Perilousness? You made that up!

RobCrompton said...

I love the quirky juxtaposition of "fast" and "quick"

Rachna Chhabria said...

I always thought it meant danger!

Patsy said...

A point to you, Rosemary.

Patsy said...

Body language should certainly be a clue with this one, Hilary. If the body is fleeing, then it's probably real trouble!

Patsy said...

It certainly is – yet somehow they always escape.

Patsy said...

We sang that on Trafalgar Day in my last day job. It really should have been a clue.

Patsy said...

I've heard that expression too, Maria.

Patsy said...

Oh - don't know what's changed, Maggie. I'll look at the settings and see if I can fix it.

Patsy said...

No. I shall Google.

Patsy said...

Yikes - she does seem to have had a perilous life!

Patsy said...

You can't prove that, Liz.

Patsy said...

Especially as there's a danger of getting stuck fast, and therefore not being quick in any sense of the word.

Patsy said...

You were right – wonder why I've always mentally down played it?