--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: that is not the last word; it is not even…" description: "\"that is not the last word; it is not even an apt word; it is a dead word from ten years back.\" — Evelyn Waugh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/evelyn-waugh-850_language_that-is-not-the-last-word-it-is-not-even_2598889.png" --- # that is not the last word; it is not even an apt word; it… ![“that is not the last word; it is not even an apt word; it is a dead word from ten years back.” quote by Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/evelyn-waugh-850_language_that-is-not-the-last-word-it-is-not-even_2598889.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/evelyn-waugh-850_language_that-is-not-the-last-word-it-is-not-even_2598889.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4e2/evelyn-waugh-850_language_that-is-not-the-last-word-it-is-not-even_2598889.png) > “that is not the last word; it is not even an apt word; it is a dead word from ten years back.” [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The phrase describes a word that has become obsolete and meaningless over time. **In simple terms:** Obsolete word from past decade. Key Takeaway Recognize and discard outdated language. Themes language obsolescence communication Mood reflective critical Type literary observational When to use this quote - writing - editing - historical analysis Key Concepts semantic decay cultural shift Questions to Reflect On - How does language evolve? - What words have become obsolete for you? A Different Perspective Words may lose relevance as contexts change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apt Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apt-word-1927013/) [Dead Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dead-word-1927012/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Last Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-word/) [Last words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/last-words/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Ten years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/) [Word](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word/) [Word Dead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-dead-636901/) [Word Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-years-401214/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [“ A Word is Dead A word is dead When it is said, Some say. I say it just Begins to live That day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-word-is-dead-a-word-is-dead-when-it-is-said-some-say-i-say-it-just/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“I was facing him before the last word was out, but I should have been dead by then. In a way I did die,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-beagle/i-was-facing-him-before-the-last-word-was-out-but-i-should-have-been/) [Peter S. Beagle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-s-beagle/) > [Whatever has been voted as the most annoying word for 3 years in a row](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/whatever-has-been-voted-as-the-most-annoying-word-for-3-years-in-a-row/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [“in the best sense of the word—as if, for a hundred years, people had”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/in-the-best-sense-of-the-word-as-if-for-a-hundred-years-people-had/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I haven't used that word since I was 7 years old. I don't understand Donald Trump.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-gutfeld/i-haven-t-used-that-word-since-i-was-7-years-old-i-don-t-understand/) [Greg Gutfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-gutfeld/) > [The way to recognize a dead word is that it exudes boredom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/the-way-to-recognize-a-dead-word-is-that-it-exudes-boredom/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Here is the whole set! a character dead at every word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/here-is-the-whole-set-a-character-dead-at-every-word/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [Conservation is now a dead word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjory-stoneman-douglas/conservation-is-now-a-dead-word/) [Marjory Stoneman Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjory-stoneman-douglas/) > [A word is dead when it's been said, some say. 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And yet I remember it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talon-p-s/dear-beloved-woman-time-so-much-time-has-passed-since-my-love-wrote/) [Talon P.S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talon-p-s/) > [“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/watch-a-man-in-times-of-adversity-to-discover-what-kind-of-man-he-is/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [Society takes what it wants. The artist himself does not count, because there is no actual existence for the work of art. The work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-duchamp/society-takes-what-it-wants-the-artist-himself-does-not-count-because/) [Marcel Duchamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-duchamp/) > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) ## More by Evelyn Waugh > [If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to a semi-official statement; if they have fallen into conversation with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/if-for-instance-they-have-heard-something-from-the-postman-they/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [One can write, think and pray exclusively of others; dreams are all egocentric.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/one-can-write-think-and-pray-exclusively-of-others-dreams-are-all/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Sometimes," Helena continued, "I have a terrible dream of the future. 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I shall come down your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/my-dear-i-should-like-to-stick-you-full-of-barbed-arrows-like-a-p-p/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [There is something incomparably thrilling in first opening a brand new book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/there-is-something-incomparably-thrilling-in-first-opening-a-brand/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“Beware the Anglo-Catholics. They're all sodomites with unpleasant accents." --Cousin Jasper”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/beware-the-anglo-catholics-they-re-all-sodomites-with-unpleasant/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“The fortnight at Venice passed quickly and sweetly-- perhaps too sweetly; I was drowning in honey, stingless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/the-fortnight-at-venice-passed-quickly-and-sweetly-perhaps-too/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [“It’s awful to think that I shall probably never, as long as I live, see you dancing like that again all by yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/it-s-awful-to-think-that-i-shall-probably-never-as-long-as-i-live-see/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [I've always been bad. Probably I shall be bad again, punished again. But the worse I am, the more I need God. I can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/i-ve-always-been-bad-probably-i-shall-be-bad-again-punished-again-but/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [His courtesy was somewhat extravagant. He would write and thank people who wrote to thank him for wedding presents and when he encountered anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/his-courtesy-was-somewhat-extravagant-he-would-write-and-thank-people/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Limbo is the place. 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Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I only have two words to say More or Less”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timbur/i-only-have-two-words-to-say-more-or-less/) [TimBur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timbur/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. 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