Was the photo finish in the 100m men's final incredible ... or incredulous?

The final of the men’s 100m at the Paris Olympics was one for the ages.  Not only did Noah Lyles beat Kishane Thompson by just 5 thousandths of a second (!!), but all eight sprinters finished within just 0.12 seconds of the gold medal.  Wow!!  But was that photo finish incredible, or was it incredulous?

Many writers make the mistake of using “incredulous” when they really mean “incredible.”  Such malapropism can be amusing when employed as a comedic device, but an unintentional error will have the reader laughing at you—rather than with you.  *sigh*

So what’s the difference?  “Incredible” describes something that astounds, especially in a pleasing way, e.g.,

• The trial team obtained an incredible trial result.

• The view from the Tooth of Time was incredible.

• The finish of the men’s 100m final was incredible.

But far too often the Scribe sees something like this:

• Did you see the incredulous sunrise this morning?

Yikes!  Incredulous should not be used interchangeably with incredible.  Incredulous describes a state of being disbelieving, doubting, or skeptical.  It should never be used to describe an amazing event.

That is all for now …