Play it again

Add comment July 16th, 2008

A writer who found much of the current movie “WALL-E” depressing pointed to a break in that mood with the phrase “the reprise from the dreariness.”

A “reprise” is a repeat or a replay, which is the wrong idea. The intended word probably was “reprieve,” in the sense of “a temporary relief or escape, as from trouble or pain.”

According to “The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories,” the early meaning of the verb “reprieve” was to “send back to prison.” Somewhere along the way, it underwent a reversal to the current sense “rescue from impending punishment.”

Both “reprieve” and “reprise” are rooted in the Latin notion of “to take back,” which also yields the word “reprehend,” meaning “to reprimand or rebuke (a person)” or “to find fault with (something done).”

Also in the family is “reprisal,” which embodies the ideas of “hitting back” in general and “an eye for an eye” specifically.

Historically, “reprisal” was “the forcible seizure of property or subjects in retaliation for an injury inflicted by another country.”

Reprisal on a national level still implies the use of force, but “short of war.” Of course, war may soon follow.