Questionable Morals
by V.E. on January 15th, 2008
“Questionable” from Blurtit:
The word questionable refers to something that is open to some doubt, something which is problematic. It can also refer to something that has not yet been determined. In another context, questionable can be used to describe someone who’s moral value is in doubt. For example, “her exploits have earned her a questionable reputation in the neighbourhood”. In informal usage, the term may be equivalent to the slang term ‘fishy’. It can simply mean any issue which appears dubious or is in dispute. It may refer to absolutely anything that is not certain, or has no aspect of surety about it. The term ‘questionable’ may also be used to describe something that is not like to happen due to lack of certainty, something that is improbable or unlikely.
“Morals” from AskOxford.com:
• adjective 1 concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour and the goodness or badness of human character. 2 conforming to accepted standards of behaviour. 3 psychological rather than physical or practical: moral support.
• noun 1 a lesson about right or wrong that can be derived from a story or experience. 2 (morals) standards of behaviour, or principles of right and wrong.
— DERIVATIVES morally adverb.
— ORIGIN Latin moralis, from mos ‘custom’.
“Morals” are, according to the OED, the same thing as “ethics,” although I’m not sure I believe that. In any case, until someone charged me with “questionable morals” recently, it had never even occurred to me that my morals were, may be, or are questionable. My actions have certainly been questionable at times (but honestly, whose haven’t been?), and I guess that a person’s actions are all that other people have to help them decide what they think of him/her. I’ve never thought I have questionable morals, but—as a friend pointed out—morals tend to be relative and based on societal standards. That is, what is taboo in one culture may be perfectly fine in another.
