PAR-suh-moh-nee
His parsimony was so extreme that he reused paper towels to save a few cents.
Fun Fact
While often used negatively, parsimony has a place in science too—Occam’s Razor is a principle of parsimony, suggesting the simplest explanation is usually best. In everyday life, though, it’s usually a warning against being so frugal it becomes unreasonable or absurd.
prag-MAT-ik
(adjective) focused on practical results and real-world consequences rather than ideals, theories, or abstract principles.
Instead of arguing over perfect solutions, she took a pragmatic approach and fixed what could be done immediately.
Pragmatic traces back to the Greek word pragmatikos, meaning “relating to deeds or actions,” from pragma (“thing done” or “action”). It entered English in the late 16th century, originally referring to people skilled in managing practical affairs, before evolving into its modern meaning of valuing usefulness and outcomes over theory.
Fun Fact
In philosophy, pragmatism became a major movement in the late 1800s, arguing that ideas should be judged by how well they work in real life—not by whether they sound good in theory. That mindset still shapes modern problem-solving, from business decisions to software design, where a “good enough” solution that works today often beats a perfect one that never ships.
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