Word for the Wise

December 01, 2006 Broadcast

Topic: Art

Today, on World AIDS Day, thousands of organizations mark a Day With(out) Art. Between 1989 and 1997, a Day Without Art was a reminder of the void that would exist in a world without artists. Then, nine years ago, AIDS activists decided to put parentheses around the out in Without in order to recognize the positive programming (as opposed to the absence of art) being used to draw attention to the pandemic. And, of course, by 1997, a diagnosis of AIDS was no longer considered a death sentence. But whether you consider today a day with Art or Without Art, today we look at the place of art in our lexicon.

The Latin ancestor of art means "skill;" not surprisingly, one sense of artless is "lacking art, skill,or knowledge: ignorant, unskillful," while one sense of artful is "performed with or showing art or skill." Here, it is clear artfulness is desirable and artlessness less so.

But don't forget the link between artifice and art. The application of art can be interpreted as dexterity or skillfulness. Those senses lend artful its less-than-positive meaning, "adroit in taking advantage, usually unfairly; crafty; deceitful."

Just to keep things in balance, artless also has a positive connotation. An absence of skill or art may be seen as freedom from the contrived; artless also describes something "marked by freedom from guile or craft;" or "sincerely simple."

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.