Word of the Day for Monday September 26, 2005 banal \BAY-nul; buh-NAL; buh-NAHL (British)\, adjective: Commonplace; trivial; hackneyed; trite. Perhaps it's just the arrogant, knowing way in which reporters ask the most banal of questions. --Alfred Alcorn, [1]Murder in the Museum of Man How does the poet transform his banal thoughts (are not most thoughts banal?) into such stunning forms, into beauty? --Joyce Carol Oates, "Speaking of Books: The Formidable [2]W.B. Yeats," [3]New York Times, September 7, 1969 All that her late companions can draw from her is the banal declaration, that she "never knew what happiness was before." --New Monthly Magazine, LIX. 458, 1840 _________________________________________________________ Banal comes from the Old French word ban, an [4]edict, which had the adjective banal, "of or relating to compulsory feudal service," which evolved to signify "merely obligatory," hence "commonplace." In his [5]Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations, Charles Harrington Elster notes, "Banal is a word of many pronunciations, each of which has its outspoken and often intractable proponents. Though it may pain some to hear it, let the record show that BAY-nul is the variant preferred by most authorities (including me)." References 1. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0944072771/ref=nosim/lexico 2. http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/William_Butler_Yeats 3. http://www.nytimes.com/ 4. file://localhost/search?q=edict 5. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0395893380/lexico Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=9&q=banal