I’m Not In “Agreeance” With Oxford
- March 08, 2003
- 14 comments
I heard on CNN just now that some “scholars” say that Fred Durst’s “agreeance” is found in the Oxford Dictionary. I tried to find this out, but you need to pay almost $600 a year to use their site!!!! So I thought I’d check in other dictionaries. I looked in our dictionaries at home (one of them is an old hardcover about 2000 pages long)... nothing. I checked with Merriam-Webster... nothing. I checked with Cambridge... nothing.
I did find many sites that pointed out that “agreeance” is a common mistake. I also noted that a lot of people make that mistake.
I’ve NEVER heard of the word. I asked my dad, who is a walking dictionary, if he had heard of it, and he said it isn’t a word. I tend to believe everyone else other than Oxford. I’m beginning to think that they jumped on this to try and sell some overly-high priced subscriptions to their online dictionary.
3/8: I have since learned that “agreeance” was an old English word that was phased out back in the 18th century! You know, Freddie may be intelligent, but there is no way he meant to use that word. He didn’t suddenly decide to use a 250 year old stale word. He meant agreement, but slipped with agreeance. It’s ok to admit it, Fred!
Chris
May 31, 2003
I didn’t see this comment until today, so the response will be a little… uhh, late.
My local library most definitely doesn’t have the Oxford dictionary. Also, if I can find the Oxford at my local library for free, why the hell would I want to pay $600 a year to use it online? If you teach a course on the roots of English, yes, but 99% of the world wouldn’t need this.
You confused my use of “old English” (notice the lower case “o”) with “Old English”. I wasn’t referring to the latter, but used “old” to describe the word. If a few crusty, old scholars using the word “agreeance” means it’s in continuous use, then Latin isn’t a dead language.
I think you attribute way too much literary intelligence to Durst. Listen to his lyrics. You don’t hear sprinklings of scholarly words in there, do you? Have you ever heard him give an interview? You don’t picture him holding a pipe and scratching his chin in deep contemplation of life’s eternal questions.
I may have been ignorant of a dead word (as were the vast majority of people), but I still say that Fred slipped up. Slipping up, in and of itself, isn’t such a bad thing. His trying to make it look like he knew what he was talking about is what I’m doubting.
Ed
August 5, 2003
I have heard people using that word “agreeance” an awful lot in Australia, where it gets used to mean a non-written agreement (to distinguish that from the written type of agreement or contract), but I’d always thought it was a stupid thing to say, and had taken to telling people if they asked if it was a word, “NO—the word is AGREEMENT”. But so many people use the word, I thought I’d check it out—there’s a rule in language studies which says that if a lot of people make the same mistake, then it’s not a mistake any longer: it’s either a part of the evolution of language, or maybe something which didn’t quite die out in some corner of your country or the English-speaking world.
Anyway that got me online and then to discover all the stuff that you already are aware of in the US thanks to Fred Durst and those helpful people at the OED and the pillorying columnists in the major media outlets.
What you guys probably weren’t aware of was just how current that usage is in some parts of the world (still).
Chris
August 5, 2003
I didn’t know it was used so much in Australia. I was there for three months and never heard it. Of course, where I was, there were not only Australians, but also people from many other countries. That might’ve been why I didn’t hear it.
If you say it’s used a lot in Australia, I believe you and stand corrected.
Ed
August 6, 2003
I understand from the dictionary articles that it is supposed to be used by lawyers, but there is a bit of a whiff of the uneducated about it, and no lawyer I know uses it. I was surprised when I started hearing it- I have counted about five different execs and sales people using it. I think it is a situation where people don’t like to use the word agreement and search for another similar word, which they then build on the spot maybe having heard it once before.
By the way, there’s another word “receival” which is used to replace “receipt” on places like loading docks to indicate the action or process of receiving something: I guess people are thinking that a receipt is a piece of paper so they don’t want to confuse the concepts. I was pretty surprised when I saw this one, but started noticing it more and more.
Llyzz
November 4, 2003
I was recently talking with a friend and used the word “agreeance.” My friend insisted that it is not a word, but I didn’t concur. So I looked it up and found all these arguments online on with the whole Fred case, including this. I’ve never watched the Grammy awards, nor have I even heard anyone debate the fact that “agreeance” is indeed a word. I have always heard this word and never thought twice of it (and I live in the States, not Australia). Just to let you know that in many people’s minds, even within the US, agreeance is a word.
Franz
May 25, 2005
I’ve been using the word <i>agreeance</i> all my life. It is an old word. A lot of what appears in dictionaries are popular words that are deemed to be in vogue. So a bunch of vocab-elites get together and decide what should be our recognizable vernacular. Unfortunately, <i>agreeance</i> was axed long ago, but it’s still a nice word and I, for one, like the sound of it so I’ll continue to use it.
By the way, Fred Durst grew up relatively privileged and was undoubtedyl exposed to some of the best education that money can buy, so I’m sure his vocabulary isn’t as pathetic as you might think.
Van
June 20, 2005
Australia – I used this word in a recent facilitation workshop. One of those workshops where you are meant to practice your facilitation/public speaking in a “safe & non-threatining environment”. After my role play, and constructive critisism feedback from the group. This guy said “yeah, it was good but he used the word agreeance, which is not even a word”. I hate when people do that! Not that i minded the correction, as i wasnt aware of this. It was more the manner in which it was delivered.
Obviously he has never played online games/chat, where the rampant debauchery of the english language is adrift in deviations/abbreviations. Nor did he get kicked out of school at an early age or has taken the time to engage anyone who has.
It has nothing to do with the scholar you refer to, just another perspective.
I please myself i’ll express anyway. (I’ll express myself anyway i please). If you dont understand it & appreciate my differences, I will rephrase for you. The key here is communication, how many people do you know speak grammatically correct?
The only time it matters is when your doing verbal/english exams jumping through hoops to get over-valued bits of paper.
There is more than this…
Back to life.
Nicko
December 28, 2006
I wish I knew where I picked the darned word up from. Although I feel that I could be described as well-read, I was not alive in or before the 19th century, nor have I read many books from this era. A philosophy teacher of mine once had a good point, which is that there are no language police. And, in fact, words are simply symbols for sharing ideas, ideals, images in our minds, or other thoughts. Therefore, if meaning is conveyed, than the “word” has successfully served its purpose as a vehicle or symbol. However, this is easier said than done. It may be argued that each one of us has his or her own unique meaning attached to the symbol, being borne not only from different sources of diction, but also from different life experiences, creating a sort of personal connotation. In short, no two people can share exactly the same understanding of the meaning of any single word. Granted, we approximate close enough to communicate in a way that allows us to get on with life. Ultimately, then, the existness of the validity and the invalidness of the word together proves that we, once apparently opposed, are actually most certainly in agreeance.
Jo
February 27, 2007
I am in agreeance with many of the comments posted above. I don’t know where I first heard the word either and only questioned its validity when I typed it into a word document and it was ‘red-lined’ as bad grammar. Apparently www.dictionary.com says it is now “obsolete and a bastardization of agreement”. Then I googled the word and found a ton of info on it, which I thought was really interesting. So it must be a ‘real word’. I see the Ozzies use it a lot – perhaps we do in UK too!!
Justin
March 12, 2007
I’m completely beside myself at the assertion of agreeance not being a word. I have heard this and used it all of my life. I live in the US and have spent most of my time in Tennessee and North Carolina. In all of my years up through college I have not had the use of agreeance pointed out by anyone and have heard it used by professors as well. Just because it is not widely accepted doesn’t make it any less of a word and to be judgemental as to someone’s education based on appearance is completely foolish…..Weird Al was his valedictorian and look at him…
CaptainReality
March 31, 2008
I’m an Australian.
The word ‘agreeance’ is used fairly regularly here. People may not like the word, but the fact (yes, it’s a documented fact) is that the word has been in common use in large parts of the English speaking world for hundreds of years is undeniable.
For those in the USA who have never heard the word, and assume that it can’t possibly be valid, I bet that you don’t use ‘pasty’, ‘serviette’, and a number of other words that are common to the rest of the English speaking world.
Remember, American English is no more valid than Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, or even British English, although the Brits do own the distinction of having invented the language.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get pissed on stout and have a wank (a sentence that makes little sense in American English).
Julie
November 17, 2009
martin
The OED is the standard dictionary of the English language, so your “agreeance” is irrelevant. It’s expensive for a reason: It spans 20 volumes. It’s probably available for FREE in the reference section of your local library. You know, off-line.
And I agree, Durst probably had no idea that “agreeance” was an obsolete word in the US. (Although it’s not “Old English,” which is the term for English pre-1000 CE… The English spoken when “agreeance” was in common use, from the 14th century CE to the 19th century CE, was Modern English, which you’re reading now.) But then again, who IS familiar with the histories and etymologies of the words we use today? You, who denies the existence of a word that has been in continuous use for half a millenium? I’m guessing that slightly less tham 100% of English speakers worldwide share your ignorance of the English language, Durst included. Nothing to brag about.