![]() ![]() Midst, nowadays, mainly functions as a noun referring to a state or condition of being, literally or metaphorically, surrounded or placed in the middle or in the proximity of something, or it designates a period of time during which something is happening or being done, as in "in the midst of a meal," and such use might be the source of confusion for some people mistakenly using mist in place of midst. Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Misadventures of John Nicholson," 1894Įarly forms of the word include middest and middes, a back-formation of amiddes, meaning "amid." Amid or amidst-or aphetic mid or midst-are prepositions that mean "in or into the middle of," as in "I'm having a hard time hearing amid the cheering" or "He looked for his friend amidst the crowd" as prepositions, both mid and midst are dated. He was not past the midst of the first field. Midst is a Middle English noun that, in modern English, is used in the set phrase "in the midst (of)," but in the past it can be found following about, as well as in other constructions: Mist goes back to Old English as the common name for water particles floating or falling in the atmosphere or floating or falling after being atomized. The Jets have scored one or less offensive touchdowns in their last five games. The offense is in the mist of a historically awful stretch. But Dana Ujobagy was in the mist of a layoff at her corporate job, she saw it as an opportunity to leave a tiresome work atmosphere and follow her dream to open her own business. Both mondegreen and eggcorn are used to describe the phenomenon of misinterpreting a word or phrase for another, as in very close veins for varicose veins and for all intensive purposes for for all intents and purposes-or, here, in the mist of for in the midst of (when there is no atmospheric or figurative haziness, just a state of being in the middle or among something or someones, such as "in the midst of a forest/tea/traitorous coup"). ![]()
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