Twelve years ago, I emailed a friend, congratulating him on his impending marriage. A few days later, we spoke, and he questioned my use of the word impending. He was under the impression that impending had a negative connotation — yes, he is a copyeditor. I checked Webster's and found that one of the meanings listed (1b) was free of any unpleasant connotations:
1 a : to hover threateningly : MENACE b : to be about to occur the impending Senate hearings
2 archaic : to hang suspended
That was then. Today, this is what Webster's says:
I have already mentioned in an earlier post that I'm a subscriber of the Grammarphobia blog (https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog), which blends etymology with modern usage and grammar to concoct an irresistible cocktail. Almost exactly a year ago (in November 2020) the blog answered a reader question about whether the word precipitous always has a negative connotation:
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