Not as recondite as some of the Magister’s lexical choices, but I just saw it today, and I see that he’s used it against me once:
Michael Masiello’s answer to Can someone be intelligent and not agree with your political views?
she [Irene Colthurst] is a fierce intellectual who writes trenchant, lucid, well-argued answers supported by strong historical evidence and governed by powerful critical analysis of available data
Michael Masiello’s answer to Why would Trump not make a good president?
Here’s a trenchant piece on the evolution of ignorance from pose to reality in the past fifty years of GOP history.
A2A. Glad you asked, Nick, this trenchant question, upon my answer to which so much depends.
trenchant
- keen, sharp
- vigorously effective and articulate <a trenchant analysis>; also : caustic <trenchant remarks>
- sharply perceptive : penetrating <a trenchant view of current conditions>
- clear-cut, distinct <the trenchant divisions between right and wrong — Edith Wharton>
As so often happens, the power of the word is in its history:
The word trenchant comes from the Anglo-French verb trencher, meaning “to cut,” and may ultimately derive from the Vulgar Latin trinicare, meaning “to cut in three.” Hence, a trenchant sword is one with a keen edge; a trenchant remark is one that cuts deep; and a trenchant observation is one that cuts to the heart of the matter.
Cuts like a knife. And, just like someone with a knife: you don’t mess with them.
Like my question about a musical about the lives of the Church Fathers. What obscurantist banter made me A2A the Magister that one?