Vice Away

Spoiler: Without some kind of vice……..

The hardest part about English is that one word may have several different meanings in different parts of speech.  I was working with clients today and going over prepositions (are you falling asleep yet?) and they asked about the word “away”.  Away is not a preposition.  It is mainly an adverb but can also be a noun.

Okay, on to the word “vice”.

In English we have Vice President, viceroy, vice.  Vice comes from Latin and is one of those words that didn’t change over between the languages.

Viceroy is a ruler.

Vice President is second in command.

A quick search also showed that “vice” can mean a substitute for another but is not a common usage.  But you never know….

Most people are familiar with vice in regards to criminals.  For example, the show “Miami Vice” and most police departments have a narcotics and vice division.  Vice is what society deems illegal.

But everyone has their vices, whether it is chocolate or gambling.

Without some kind of vice, we are not human.  Something to ponder.