Word Wisdom: Facetious

Joking, especially in a way regarded by others as silly, annoying, or inappropriate. I was out shopping the other day, and someone asked me, 'How are you doing?' I replied facetiously, 'Fine, until you asked.' Facetious means joking, especially in a way regarded by others as silly, annoying, or inappropriate. Because of the nerve pain in my right leg, I am not sure how to respond to the normal greeting we often say to one another. I should have answered in a better way, but I get tired of trying to ignore this nagging issue while wondering if I should burden others with a truthful detailed answer to my problems. So, I answered in a facetious manner. The English word facetious was borrowed in the late 16th century from the French facetieux, which was the plural form of facetie, meaning joke or jesting remark. The French came from the Latin word facetiae, meaning amusing things. Facetious can refer to anyone or anything intended to be amusing or funny but that comes off as inappropriate or annoying. Facetious comments are frivolous and not meant to be taken literally. It is not impertinent to say that someone is being facetious, but it implies ill-timed attempts at humour. Martin Lawrence (1965-present), an American actor and comedian, said, 'I don't want to sound facetious, but humour is the key to the soul.' (I really enjoyed Martin Lawrence in the 2007 movie Wild Hogs with Tim Allen, John Travolta, and William H. Macy.) Sarcastic comments are different than facetious ones. Sarcastic is still concerned with humour but tends to have a caustic or biting quality that is often intended to cause hurt. When someone states the obvious, a sarcastic reply could be, 'Really? No, you are a genius.' Facetious comments try to be funny when things are serious. 'I was just being facetious when I said we should work all weekend." Sarcasm is mean; facetious is only annoying. Witty, humourous, jocular, jocose, and facetious all imply intending to provoke laughter. Witty means cleverness and quickness of mind. During the community meeting dealing with garbage lying around in the park, Glen made a witty remark to reduce some of the tension building in the room Humourous is anything that evokes genial laughter intimating whimsicality or eccentricity. Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) wrote many humourous antidotes in his book Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. Jocular implies a usually habitual fondness for jesting and joking. Jim's backyard neighbour was a very jocular fellow. Jocose suggests habitual playfulness. As they sat around the table at the fundraiser, the jocose teenager had everyone laughing throughout the evening. Saying something facetiously does not mean you are angry or attacking someone. Facetious is not used to imply untruthfulness or spreading misinformation. Facetious does not suggest one is committing fraud or being dishonest. Facetious means making a teasing remark when seriousness is expected. Facetious stresses a desire to produce laughter in dubious or ill-timed ways. It has been a while, but I was pulled over by a police officer for speeding on Main St. as I was coming off the TransCanada Highway. When talking with a police officer, it is not a time to be facetious as you could get into a lot more trouble. Good advice to heed, I think. Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage. John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to [email protected]. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.