Saturday, July 16, 2011

Do you literally mean, “Welcome to Bedlam”?

Ever used the phrase, “Welcome to Bedlam? If you have, you are in fact inviting people into an official Insane Asylum or Mad House! For that is what Bedlam originally meant. Of course it is now used in the broader and unofficial sense of temporary madness and confusion and not the official thing! At least I hope that is how you use is it!
Yes, Bedlam, the “Word of the Day” for Saturday, July 2, 2011, is another of those words whose original meaning has changed. Yet it still holds true to some degree, even if unofficially, to its original meaning, as we see from its official description as:
1. A scene or state of wild uproar and confusion.
2. An archaic term for an insane asylum or madhouse.
So how do you use “Welcome to Bedlam”, if indeed you do use it at all? Although well conversant with the word and meaning of bedlam, “Welcome to Bedlam” it is not a phrase I use at all, if ever. What about you?

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