rosinarowantree (rosinarowantree) wrote in linguaphiles,
rosinarowantree
rosinarowantree
linguaphiles

A Self-deprecatory question... Or should it be Self-depreciatory?

I always thought that the faux-modest response which pretended to make light of my general all-round brilliance - A genius? Moi? No, I am but a simple soul - was self-deprecatory (or self-deprecating). But I noticed that the book I was reading said 'self-depreciating'.

I checked in the OED and it says Self-depreciatory is the older term, now being swept aside by self-deprecatory - both being correct. The fact that it's used in my text book indicates that self-depreciation is on the rise again.

So which do you use? Where do you come from? And how old (roughly) are you? And if you are not a native English speaker, which term (if any) would you have been taught?

Edit Thank you everyone. It seems clear that 'self-deprecating' is still more popular, from Australia to Massachusetts via Carlisle and India.
Subscribe

  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

  • A very strange Etruscan inscription

    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 37 comments
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →
Previous
← Ctrl ← Alt
Next
Ctrl → Alt →

  • Interpretation of the Legend

    (inscriptions on the Kushan Kingdom coins / надписи на монетах Кушанского царства)

  • Spanish query

    I would be most grateful if anyone could help me out with a Spanish idiom, an expression appearing in a discussion of torture from the late 18th…

  • A very strange Etruscan inscription

    Chiusi is a small town in Italy (province of Siena, Tuscany). And once it was one of the most powerful centers of the Etruscan League of 12 cities.…