What the hell does "nonplussed" mean? \ stacker news ~ideasfromtheedge

pull down to refresh

541 sats \ 10 comments \ @siggy47 10 Feb ideasfromtheedge

My whole life I thought nonplussed meant confused. Now I'm nonplussed. I read this article about Trump getting rid of the penny on CNBC:

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/10/what-end-of-the-penny-means-for-the-economy-piggy-banks-and-prices.html

this is one that most economists and others in the monetary ecosystem seem nonplussed about.

I took that to mean economists were confused. I think, though, that the author meant they were unconcerned. Now I was really nonplussed. So I googled the meaning, and found this:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/nonplussed

I'm still nonplussed.

view all related items

156 sats \ 4 replies \ @grayruby 10 Feb

It seems there is an informal use where it is a synonym for unperturbed.

40 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 10 Feb

This is what it means everyone else is wrong

40 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 10 Feb

I always thought it was a weird word, and I assumed it was the opposite of plussed, whatever that is. I thought plussed must have meant clear and understandable. Boy was I wrong.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @grayruby 10 Feb

"The word nonplussed comes from the Latin phrase nōn plūs, which means "not more". The word was first used in English in the 16th century."

20 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 10 Feb

This was my sense

97 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark 10 Feb

I always thought it meant displeased.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 10 Feb

Rereading Harry Potter now. The cool thing is, both meanings of nonplussed would fit into the context here. Maybe J.K.Rowling meant it that way

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @plebpoet 10 Feb

I feel this word should be reserved for creative writing because it is not efficient, as you have pointed out, and to me, it singularly communicates the facial expression/body signals one would make in the state of being confused.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 10 Feb

Some phrases and words bug me. This is one. I mean it's really how people use them though.

41 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 10 Feb

It's always made me think of Orwellian New Speak, although it apparently has nothing to do with that.