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pleasantry

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From pleasant +‎ -ry, probably modelled on Middle French plaisanterie.[1]

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈplɛzəntɹi/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Hyphenation: pleas‧ant‧ry

Noun

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pleasantry (countable and uncountable, plural pleasantries)

  1. (sometimes proscribed) A casual, courteous remark.
  2. A playful remark; a jest.
    • 2014 November 18, Daniel Taylor, The Guardian‎[1]:
      Charlie Mulgrew could easily have been shown two yellow cards by a stricter referee and amid all the usual Anglo-Scottish pleasantries, the two sets of fans put an awful lot of effort into trying to drown out one another’s national anthems.
  3. (dated) Anything that promotes pleasure or merriment.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Toontown: Corporate Clash Development Team, Transcription Excerpt‎[2]:
      C.O.O: "The office was quite close to the home of our youth—"
      CHRM: "Thomas, your trip to Suitopia was not meant to be for pleasantries."
      C.O.O: "No… I know… But I was close by, so I went to visit them…"
      CHRM: "You should not have. You and I both know the way they are."

Usage notes

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  • The word originally meant a joke or witticism. It is now generally used to mean only polite conversation in general (as in the phrase "exchange of pleasantries"), which is sometimes proscribed.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “pleasantry, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
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