Re: Weekly Vocab #2.1.16 (repost #1)

Charlie/Ray Brown wrote:
> >>caeruleancentaur wrote:
>
> >>flex, v. exhibit the strength of; "The victorious army flexes
> >>its invincibility"
> >> Neither the AHD nor Wiktionary give this as a definition
> >>of "flex."
>
> >R A Brown <ray@...> wrote:
>
> >Neither does Chamber's English Dictionary nor AFAIK does the Oxford
> >English Dictionary.
>
> >I would, without the gloss above, understand to mean that the
> >victorious army "bent its invincibility'. i.e. was flexible and
> >showed magnanimity and tolerance, although it was invincible.
>
> "To flex a muscle" brings to my mind a picture of a man (or a woman)
> displaying his biceps.  The connotation would be that of showing off
> or displaying rather than bending.
>
> Perhaps that is the connotation intended in the above example.
>
That was my opinion too. Certainly not common/correct usage. Somehow with
the sense "display"-- perhaps "flaunt" would have been a better choice.