The universe is "enormous." Right?

Said physicist Seth Shostak of the UFO phenomenon on Larry King recently: "I think they're out there because of the enormity of the universe."


Because Shostak holds a PhD in physics and, therefore deals with the physical world on astronomical levels, we must believe he was referring to the physical largeness of the universe, not its "enormity": atrociousness, offensiveness; terribleness on a vast (abstract) scale. (Concise Oxford Dictionary).

Probably Dr. Shostak meant to say "...because of the enormousness (or vastness, or massiveness) of the universe." Enormous meaning: very large, immense, huge in a physical sense. (Concise Oxford Dictionary).

While "enormity" begins with a cognate root, (from the same source), once more, it carries the connotation of "hugeness (in an abstract way) as of some terrible event." The point is, when using the word "enormity," its most common use is to refer to something "massively" terrible in the manner of a natural disaster or a world war, or some other immense fiasco which claims many lives, or time and energy on a very large scale.

H. W. Fowler in his Modern English Usage says: "The two words have drifted so far apart that the use of either in connexion with the limited sense of the other is unadvisable."

Dr. Shostak works for SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) which has been pointing its receivers toward the vastness of space for some time now without any response. If the undertaking ultimately fails, the enormity of the disappointment would be obvious.

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