View from the North 40: English speakers unite - for a better vocabulary tomorrow

Earlier this week a friend of mine was puzzling over why English speakers use the word “disgruntled” all the time, but we never drop the “dis” prefix and say “gruntled.”

A “disgruntled” customer can file a complaint, but why don’t we ever hear of “gruntled” people being satisfied with, well, anything? “Gruntled” is actually an official word.

I think we don’t use “gruntled” because it doesn’t sound like what it means: pleased, contented, satisfied. Words like “dreary” and “silly” sound like what they mean. Gruntled? That sounds like a description o...