in·e·luc·ta·ble ( ihn ee-luh k tuh -b l)
adj.
Not to be avoided or escaped; inevitable: “Those war plans rested on a belief in the ineluctable superiority of the offense over the defense†(Jack Beatty).
[Latin in luct bilis : in-, not; see in-1 + luct bilis, penetrable (from luct r , to struggle out of : ex-, ex- + luct r , to struggle).]
in e·luc ta·bil i·ty n.
in e·luc ta·bly adv.
The mystery word which inexplicably popped into my mind today is “ineluctable.†Now, it seems ineluctable that I will use the word “ineluctable†in conversation. At least this is a polite word which is not related to wanking in the slightest. Who needs “Word of the Day†calendars? I sure don’t. I have a word-of-the-day built right in to my own subconscious. Wheee! Perhaps it is an ineluctable fate of a recovering English Major to be obsessed over $25 words. I am suddenly feeling the intense urge to go out and read some Dickens. Watch out, folks! Dickens novels grab hold of my vocabulary and manners of speaking and writing and make them their bitches. I’m sure you’ll notice when it happens.
I remember my first reading of Pickwick Papers my freshman year of high-school, keeping a stenographer’s notepad of words I was unfamiliar with, then looking them up. The sly bombast of Dickens has appealed to me since my first experience with his writing (that being my encounter with Pickwick). For a lot of that year I alternated amongst Dickens, Twain, and, of all things, Heinlein. Dickens and Twain are still among my favorites, but Heinlein mostly makes me want to punch things, though I still like Stranger in a Strange Land, of course, giving credit to a classic where credit is due, and inexplicably, I like Friday, even though it pretty much exemplifies his unrealistic and unflattering attempts at portraying a woman. It is an interesting and entertaining story, nonetheless.