anomie (n.) Personal state of isolation and anxiety resulting from a lack of moral standards in society.

bonhomie (n.) A pleasant and affable disposition; geniality.

Anomie is a fashionable word these days. I don’t know who started its revival, some media pundit in America I surmise, but I keep running across it in commentary and news articles.

Anyway, anomie wasn’t familiar to me and every time I read it, I thought of bonhomie. Taking in the context, ‘geniality’ wasn’t even close to the right meaning. So I referred to the dictionary. As it turns out, I’m glad I looked it up because it’s one of those philosophical words that refuses to stick in my vocabulary. (For a good laugh, go ahead and ask me the difference between sophist and solipsist.)

But my twisted brain was making a valid connection—anomie and bonhomie are the only two words commonly used in English that end in ‘omie.’ At least that I can find.

So here’s a new philosophy (call it what you will): If people would embrace bonhomie as their personal standard, the world would have a lot less anomie.