mores » morays

Chiefly in:   social morays

Variant(s):  moray (sing.)

Classification: English – cross-language

Spotted in the wild:

  • A distinction must be made between social morays (the ethics that prevail by means of the unwritten code of social contract at any point in a given civilization) and criminal law. (Shaksper.net)
  • This ad is suggestive that men are dogs, are not worthy of wearing clothing and need to be tied to a woman who has the power. It also suggests that a woman can have more than one man. Both of these points contravene the social morays that are part of today’s society and involves discrimination of men as a lesser sex rather than as an equal. (Wilson's Almanac)
  • The consequence was social uproar as new people entered the site on a whim after stumbling on long-dead threads and posted without reading FAQs or without knowing the complex set of social morays that the board requires. (Anil Dash)
  • Buñuel and Dali are thumbing their respective noses at every conceivable social moray and value. (DVDBeaver.com)
  • Though its setting is modern, the wry sensibility and gimlet-eyed deconstruction of social morays put SNOBS firmly in the tradition of Jane Austen, E.F. Benson (especially the “Lucia” series) and Anthony Trollope. (AOL Bookreporter)
  • Most porn is not taboo Sevenblu…it is more of a social moray. (link)

Analyzed or reported by:

Gymnothorax mordax, the California moray, is not a particularly social animal; still, it entertains a mutualistic relationship with the red rock shrimp, Lysmata claifornica.

The semantics in this case is rather unclear. Presumably, the original meaning of _mores_ has been obscured to the point that the only quasi-homophonous word available takes up the free spot. An influence of spell checkers, however, cannot be excluded.

The singular form is a backformation.

| link | entered by Chris Waigl, 2005/02/21 |

Commentaries

  1. 1

    Commentary by david muse , 2006/06/25 at 4:19 pm

    as any semi-educated or fully educated person can tell you - it’s “mores” not “morays”

  2. 2

    Commentary by Chris Waigl , 2006/06/26 at 7:13 am

    @david muse: Well, I guess you could say, then, that we take pride in our semi-education.

    Seriously, though, is a good idea to read the “About” page before leaving critical comments.

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