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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