We Will Be Back Momentarily

Before you answer that question (too late, I know), let's review a small snippet of grammar, shall we? Many adjectives have adverbial equivalents which are generated by adding -ly to the end of the original word. A perfect student performs perfectly on his tests. A clean escape is one wherein the fugitives cleanly evade their would-be captors. Occasionally, of course, the adjective needs to be modified somewhat. Adjectives ending in "y," for instance, first convert the last letter to an "i" before adding the ending. An easy challenge is one that is overcome easily. A happy kid will chatter happily. In any case, the adverb formed thus from an adjective can be said to mean "in a ______ manner" (happily means "in a happy manner," and so on).

Now let's return to the subject of this rant. What does "momentarily" mean? Well, it comes from the word "momentary," which means "existing for a moment." (There was a momentary pause in conversation.) The adverb, thus, means "in a momentary manner," or, more simply, "for a moment."

So what, you say. That's obvious, isn't it? Go back to the top of this page. Look at the sentence. Where have you heard it before? Chances are, it's right before commercial breaks (especially with children's shows). Do they mean that they'll be back for a moment? Probably not. This word has come to mean "in a moment," precisely because of the insipid people who did not know what it meant and have been broadcasting the word in this confounded meaning to our youth for a couple of decades (at least). By now, of course, the word has been accepted as having this dual meaning. Dictionaries have come to acknowledge it. And most people are blissfully unaware of the first meaning.

So why do I persist in being so strict on my use of the word? Why do I try to convince others (including complete strangers, through this page) to do the same? I touched on it as much as I think I can in my apostrophe rant, but I think that every time we allow the language to be diluted in meaning like this, it reduces the richness of our available vocabulary - we can no longer be as precise as we once could - and clouds our thinking.

It also exposes a fundamental ignorance, made all the more ugly because it is voluntarily maintained for the sake of convenience.