[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
<< we would never say a "confessed alcoholic" >>
Why not? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that usage of the word.
<< We'd say "he confessed to being an alcoholic" meaning - he confessed it to
someone
else (and with this comes a sense of shame, of the confession having been
dragged out of him perhaps, and heads hanging low.) >>
Who is this "we," and where did they come up with this tie-in to "shame" and
"dragged out" admissions and hanging heads in defining this word?
To me, a confession always involves at least two parties. So what you call
"self-confessed" -- in the sense of confessing something to oneself -- is
what I would call acknowledged, avowed, admitted, professed . . . But
"self-confessed" is just weird usage as far as I am concerned.
"Self-proclaimed" and even "self-acknowledged," "self-avowed," and
"self-professed" all make more sense to me. "Self-confessed?" No thanks. I
wouldn't use it. Not just because I was taught that it was wrong, either. But
because it makes no sense to me. And if it's one of those things that has
become acceptable because of constant misuse, what's next? Irregardless?
--Bob
