A Dictionary of Cont..

pessimist 368
are, plainly, closely synonymous and in many
contexts are interchangeable, but pervade is now
found chiefly in figurative uses (A vast discontent
pervcded the populace), whereas permeate
is found in both concrete and figurative senses
(The oil had permeated the rug. The idea of
progress permeates almost all social thinking).
See also penetrate; pervade.
pessimist. See optimist.
pessimistic. See gloomy.
petit; petite. The English adjective petit is now
obsolete in the general sense of small or insignificant-though
there are occasional literary
echoes of it in such things as Edgar Lee Masters’s
poem Petit the Poet. In place of petit in
this general sense we now use petty. In legal
phrases petit hangs on (petit jury, petit larceny),
though even here petty is taking over. On the
other hand petite, the eternal feminine, is doing
well. The French pronunciation and spelling
have been preserved. The word means little,
small, tiny. A petite woman is small and, it is
implied, dainty.
pet peeve, a common slangy term for a particular
aversion, is a dreary cliche kept feebly alive by
its alliteration. In pet, with its suggestion of an
aversion that is cherished and fondled, a hatred
that we love, there was once a penetrating
thought arrestingly conveyed in paradox. But all
of this has been worn out by too much use.
petrol; petroleum. Petrol is the word used in England
for what in the United States is called
gasoline. The word was once used in the United
States to designate what is now called petroleum,
but this use is obsolete.
Petroleum is an oily, usually dark-colored,
liquid which occurs naturally in various parts of
the world and is obtained by boring. It is often
called crude oil. It is used in its natural state, or
after certain treatment, as a fuel, or it is separated
by distillation into gasoline, naphtha, benzine,
kerosene, paraffin, etc.
petty, paltry, trivial all apply to something so
small as to be unworthy of serious attention.
Petty connotes a good deal of contempt (A
petty quarrel. His fall was destined to a foreign
strand,/ A petty fortress, and a dubious hand).
Paltry is even stronger. It derives from a word
meaning a rag and suggests something so mean
and worthless as to be despicable (What a paltry
fool, to delay forty people because he was two
cents short in change). Trivial means slight and
insignificant. It is used especially to mark the
incongruity of the trifling when compared with
the serious and important. It is not as scornful
a word as the other two (I divert myself with
these trivial things until I know for sure that I
will be allowed to work on my great project).
petulant; peevish; pettish. He is petulant who is
moved to or shows some sudden, impatient irritation,
especially over a trifling annoyance (This
petulant display over so slight and unavoidable
a delay did his reputation a great deal of harm).
Peevishness is an expression of a more inveterate
discontent than petulance. A peevish man’s irritations
are more ingrained. They manifest them-
selves consistently (whereas petulance may he
sporadic) and evince a deep weakness of character.
Pettish (meaning originally “like a small
child”) is a word not now much in general use.
But it is none the less a useful word, suggesting
one who, like a spoiled child, manifests irritation
over matters so small as to be beneath the dignity
of a normal adult’s notice (This pettish
concern with who is or who is not served first is
ludicrous).
phalanx. The plural is phalanxes or phalanges. In
speaking of military formations or other groups
of persons, either plural rnay be used. Phalanxes
is generally preferred. In botany and zoology
the plural phalanges is preferred and this has a
new singular phalange which can be used interchangeably
with phalanx. In zo6logy the plural
phalanges is used to mean one group, not several
groups, and the singular phalange means one of
the units of such a group.
phantasma. The plural is phantasmas or phantasmata,
not phantasmae.
phantasy. See fancy.
phase; aspect. In an age such as ours which is
strongly conscious of the difference between appearances
and reality and sharply aware of the
limitations of an individual’s perceptions, terms
such as vision, point of view, and phase have a
strong appeal and have been greatly overworked.
All one can say, in caution, is that phase should
not be used merely as a synonym for appearance
and that it should at least be alternated, for
variety, with aspect, especially in contexts where
ambiguity might arise from confusion with the
special meaning of phase in science as one of
the recurring appearances or states of something
which, like the moon and the planets, continually
goes through a cycle of regular changes in
appearance.
Like aspect, phase is a complement of point
of view (q. v.), and since point of view can be a
very vague thing, so can phase and aspect and
their vagueness is sometimes an attraction to
those who wish to avoid the effort of being
precise.
phase and faze, though pronounced alike, are
totally different words and should not be confused.
Phase is a standard noun meaning any of
the appearances or aspects in which a thing of
varying modes or conditions manifests itself to
the eye or mind, a stage of change or development.
It is synonymous with aspect. To faze in
American slang means to disturb, discomfit,
daunt, put out of countenance. Phase is almost
never misspelled faze, but faze is often misspelled
phase.
phasis. The plural is phases, from which etymologically
the more common singular phase has
developed. Phasis is now used only in the most
learned writing, as a synonym for phase.
phenomena. See phenomenon.
phenomenal. In its original, strict, philosophical
sense, phenomenal means that which is cognizable
by the senses (The wave moves onward,
but the water of which it is comprised does not.
The same particle does not rise from the valley