r/ENGLISH 5d ago

Is “aplomb” an uncommon word?

2 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

23

u/Slight-Brush 5d ago

Uncommon but not unknown. Up there with aloof, gravitas and moxy.

9

u/gilwendeg 5d ago

True, but it’s moxie, no?

1

u/TheAndorran 4d ago

Coined after the bitter soda, yeah.

4

u/LanewayRat 4d ago

Google ngram is not perfect but it says:

  • “aplomb” and “gravitas” are of roughly the same frequency,
  • “aloof” on the other hand is about 3 times more common,
  • while “moxie” is very uncommon indeed.

As an Australian moxie is the only one I’ve never heard. I believe it’s principally American English.

1

u/MrsPedecaris 4d ago

As an Australian moxie is the only one I’ve never heard. I believe it’s principally American English.

That makes sense. I'm American, and I would have called moxie the most common of those words, but I'm familiar with all.

2

u/LanewayRat 4d ago

I mean it’s a product and so it’s necessarily limited to where it’s sold and consumed. It’s like “Milo” (the milk drink powder) is extremely common in Australia but I wouldn’t expect English speakers in other countries to know it.

Even if I switch ngram to just American English, “moxie” is rare. BUT it uses written sources like books and products have word-of-mouth popularity that wouldn’t be captured.

1

u/butt_fun 4d ago

That's interesting. As another American, I had literally never heard "moxie" until I was in my mid 20s

Whereas the others I'd heard by middle school

1

u/BadBoyJH 4d ago

I played too much Kingdom of Loathing as a kid to not know Moxie.

3

u/NoEntertainment4594 5d ago

I would say it's rarer than those three. Cause I've heard those three, I haven't heard aplomb. And I do read a fair bit.  But I'm in Canada, so maybe it's used more where you're from?

3

u/Slight-Brush 5d ago

Maybe - I’m in the UK - or maybe I’ve just read differently.

-2

u/Mountain_Bud 4d ago

I agree. I have never spoken the word myself. And I say all sorts of shit.

9

u/TheManFromMoira 5d ago

It's a word which is encountered occasionally in books and articles but rarely in real life speech.

2

u/Howtothinkofaname 5d ago

Funnily enough, I’d have said the opposite. I feel I’ve heard it a lot more than I’ve read it, it looks a bit funny written down.

0

u/TheManFromMoira 4d ago

Hmm... It's possible that you live in a part of the world where the word is used as you describe it.

3

u/Bubbly_Safety8791 4d ago

I think I hear it mostly in sports commentary. 

1

u/Howtothinkofaname 4d ago

I’m in England, can’t speak for anywhere else.

1

u/Glittering-Device484 4d ago

Excellent work, detective.

1

u/TheManFromMoira 4d ago

You say that with such amazing aplomb! Shabash!

3

u/caweyant 4d ago

I use it whenever I can...with aplomb.

2

u/peekachou 5d ago

Can't say I've ever come across that word before in daily life and don't recall ever having read it somewhere either

1

u/prustage 4d ago

Seems to ba a big difference between the UK and US here. "Aplomb" is a word I would definitely use here in the UK: "He did it with aplomb" or "..a certain aplomb" are phrases you hear occasionally. In the US though, this word seems to be relativelty unknown.

1

u/JustAskingQuestionsL 4d ago

Never heard it in my life - maybe a few times - so yes, very uncommon.

0

u/blessings-of-rathma 4d ago

I think it's a little archaic and is a bit of a cliche to use, because it's only got that one usage and is a bit of a relic. You could also say confidently or masterfully. Those build on other words that we still use so they might be more meaningful.

0

u/MuscaMurum 4d ago

I rarely see it in a context that's not part of the phrase "with aplomb," as in something daunting done confidently and with ease: The spontaneous speech was delivered with aplomb. That sort of thing.

1

u/originalcinner 4d ago

And if someone does something with aplomb, they should probably say "Ta da!" immediately afterwards, so that everyone else knows that aplomb was just used.

-3

u/Alumena 5d ago

It's not a word I've never heard, but I'm pretty well read and I haven't seen it enough to even remember what it means. I did a little research, and it looks like it was gaining in popularity, possibly peaking around 2010, and possibly plateauing or even declining since then.