I’ve been carrying this word, mean, around with me for weeks now.  I’ll share.  Yes, I know you didn’t ask.  I will keep it short.

We seem to have lost one meaning of mean now that we need it most.  What a shame.

We use the word “mean” in many ways.  In statistics, it means “average” and is often different from the median or midpoint.  As a verb, we use it for to signify or to have in mind or to intend.  As an adjective—and as a noun —we use the word in at least three ways, although it seems that only one meaning is common. In today’s world, mean is hostile or rude, and I think it’s what your six year old has in mind when she complains that her eight year old brother is “being mean to me.”  It can also have the meaning of poor or…