2 July 2013

platitude

[plat-i-tood, -tyood]

noun
1. a flat, dull, or trite remark, especially one uttered as if it were fresh or profound.
2. the quality or state of being flat, dull, or trite: the platitude of most political oratory.
Origin:
1805–15; < French: literally, flatness, equivalent to plat flat (see plate1 ) + -itude, as in French latitude, altitude, magnitude, etc.

Can be confused: platitude, plaudit.

Synonyms
1. cliché, truism.

Today’s aphorism

The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.

Alexandra K. Tenfor

On this day

2 July 1961 – death of Ernest Hemingway, American author. He wrote books including ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls‘ and ‘Old Man and the Sea‘.