pedestrian
adjective; disapproving / noun

- ordinary, boring or unexciting

- dull or commonplace

- lacking imagination, distinction or vitality

- a person travelling on foot, particularly near traffic

Cambridge Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, Webster’s New World College Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

Pedestrian came into English in 1716 from Latin pedester, meaning “on foot”, “plain” or “written in prose”. This was derived from pes, with the genitive pedis, meaning “foot”. The same ancient root appears in pedal, pedometer and pedicure.

The figurative sense came first in English. It initially described writing that was plain and prosaic rather than elevated or poetic. From there it developed its modern critical meaning: ordinary, dull or lacking imagination.

The adjective meaning “going on foot” is recorded from the late 18th century, followed by the noun for someone who walks. Thus English used pedestrian to criticise uninspired writing before regularly using it for the person walking along the road—a surprisingly literary beginning for such an everyday word.

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GIVING IDEAS SOME LEGS

How many unusual uses can you imagine for a button? A tiny plate, a game counter, a doll’s eye—or perhaps nothing at all until you stand up.

In 2014, Stanford researchers Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz conducted four experiments comparing creative thinking while sitting and walking. Participants completed tasks requiring them to generate unusual uses for familiar objects or invent fresh comparisons.

Walking raised creative output by an average of about 60 per cent. Most participants produced more creative responses while moving than while seated. The effect also continued briefly after they sat down again.

Surprisingly, scenery wasn’t essential. Walking on a treadmill while facing a blank wall still helped. Movement itself appeared to encourage divergent thinking—the mental process that generates numerous possible ideas.

Walking didn’t improve every kind of thought. On tasks requiring one precise connection or correct answer, participants gained little and sometimes performed worse. A wandering body seems particularly suited to a mind that needs to explore, not one that must immediately narrow its options.

So when our thinking becomes pedestrian in the figurative sense, becoming a pedestrian in the literal sense may be exactly what it needs.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

banal, commonplace, dull, humdrum, mundane, ordinary, PEDESTRIAN, prosaic, uninspire

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“The acting was excellent, but the script was disappointingly PEDESTRIAN.”

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