"Paucity" is one of those words like "nonplussed" and "benefactor" which seems to be used about half the time to mean its opposite.
I am not a linguistic prescriptivist, but I have no idea when someone says "paucity" if they mean "shortage" or "abundance", when they say "nonplussed" if they mean "at a complete loss" or "unfazed", or when they say "benefactor" if they mean "the person bestowing a good, as in a will" or "beneficiary". This just isn't good communication.
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Date: 2010-09-23 06:44 pm (UTC)I am not a linguistic prescriptivist, but I have no idea when someone says "paucity" if they mean "shortage" or "abundance", when they say "nonplussed" if they mean "at a complete loss" or "unfazed", or when they say "benefactor" if they mean "the person bestowing a good, as in a will" or "beneficiary". This just isn't good communication.