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by aheilbut 4889 days ago
Everyone is jumping on that, but (while I had to look it up too) 'ept' actually is a real word:

from the OED:

ept, adj. Pronunciation: /ɛpt/ Etymology: Back-formation < inept adj.

  Used as a deliberate antonym of ‘inept’: adroit, appropriate, effective.
1938 E. B. White Let. Oct. (1976) 183, I am much obliged..to you for your warm, courteous, and ept treatment of a rather weak, skinny subject.

1966 Time 30 Sept. 7/1 With the exception of one or two semantic twisters, I think it is a first-rate job—definitely ept, ane and ert.

1976 N.Y. Times Mag. 6 June 15 The obvious answer is summed up by a White House official's sardonic crack: ‘Politically, we're not very ept.’

3 comments

We have the term "adept" though, which is actually in common usage and fits the intended meaning here...
That was…surprisingly thorough.
That is the point of the OED: to be comprehensive and include real usages.
That's the point of any half-decent dictionary.

The OED is a gold standard, though.

James Murray was the true Scotsman.
Isn't it more likely that he just mispelled "apt".