What does it really mean to be extraordinary?
I’m nosey and I’m curious. I just like knowing things—I can’t help it, it’s in my nature. One thing that seems to intrigue me is the origins of words, especially compound words. Compound words are generally self explanatory, but every now and again, I come across one that just doesn’t make sense to me. Right now, that word is extraordinary.
Merriam-Webster defines “extra” as an adjective that means “more than is due, usual or necessary.” It also defines “ordinary” as “the regular or customary condition or course of things.”
Given both of these definitions, you would think that if you combine the words, the definition would be something along the lines of “more usual or customary than normal”…or, simply said—boring—maybe even more than boring because it’s “extra.”
So, why is it that, when you do combine the words, you get a definition of “going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. Exceptional.”
How did extra-ordinary come to mean exceptional? Anyone? Anyone? Have you actually listened to how the word is even pronounced? “X-troy-din-ary,” if we’re combining 2 words into one, wouldn’t we pronounce the words the way we do when they’re used individually? Overall, everyday, baseball…those compound words make sense—AND they’re pronounced the same way they would be pronounced as 2 separate words!
So why, oh why, is it extraordinarily difficult for extraordinary to just be extra ordinary?