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Comment by pedalpete | Hacker News Reader

I rather liked the strange looks I got from reading Hacker News, but at least I learned a new word today

Innocuous - 1. not harmful or injurious; harmless: an innocuous home remedy. 2. not likely to irritate or offend; inoffensive; an innocuous remark. 3. not interesting, stimulating, or significant; pallid; insipid: an innocuous novel.

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I read a lot, but I have a habit of glossing over words for which I have a vague sense, but not a precise definition.

For a while, whenever I'd read something, I'd just quickly jot down any word for which I couldn't come up with a good definition. Later, I'd look them up.

It works, and it's saved me some embarrassment. Schadenfreude didn't mean what I thought it meant.

I find that an amazing thing about language, that you often don't need a precise definition, because the meaning is clear from the context. Perhaps 'innocuous' isn't the best example, as 'innocent' is well known and pretty close, but it also works for words that you lack any 'hint' for.

I looked up innocuous when I saw the title change, but didn't really learn anything new.

What did you think it meant? (Just curious - I am a native German speaker.)

Bittersweet joy, rather than joy in someone else's misfortune.

Plausible. I guess the word could have taken that meaning.

Mostly harmless. Or '42'. Just plain '42'.

(if you need to ask, you can't afford it ;-)

Deep Thought

Mostly Harmless News. Definitely what it should be. DON'T PANIC!

You really hadn't heard it before today?

Not everyone here is a native English speaker.

The word sounds much more interesting than what it actually means though. I like it :)

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