Grammar Nazi

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blunthead

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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Gerald said:
What amazes me about the English language is just how huge the vocabulary is. I game in English, watch movies in English, read in English, pc's are mostly in English. I daily look up most any word I don't know, and still you always come across new ones. And not only very complex words for highly specialized fields, different words for ordinary things.

It's also striking that what's roughly the same word in one language, can mean something quite different in another language - the words come from a similar basic meaning, but just got used differently in different countries. This goes for most any language it seems. It's frustrating, because you tend to choose the meaning of the word from your first language and use that in English where it means something different.

Is it actually the same for people who were raised in English that you find new words you had never read or heard before all the time?
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I like to at least think my vocabulary's increasing as I perform my own many-other functions day to day. I did notice, as I read good fiction, my ability to formulate sentences improving. But I can't say I've necessarily realized an improvement in my vocabulary, via reading, playing word games, and doing whatever else I might be doing in an attempt to improve it. Maybe I'm describing an effect of age on memory. I still struggle trying to recall this word or that; end up searching for it online.

I don't know other languages; can't compare any vs English in terms of complexity or degree of difficulty learning and executing the performance of. But I've heard that English is quite the challenge to master.
 
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skimom2

skimom2

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Gerald said:
What amazes me about the English language is just how huge the vocabulary is. I game in English, watch movies in English, read in English, pc's are mostly in English. I daily look up most any word I don't know, and still you always come across new ones. And not only very complex words for highly specialized fields, different words for ordinary things.

It's also striking that what's roughly the same word in one language, can mean something quite different in another language - the words come from a similar basic meaning, but just got used differently in different countries. This goes for most any language it seems. It's frustrating, because you tend to choose the meaning of the word from your first language and use that in English where it means something different.

Is it actually the same for people who were raised in English that you find new words you had never read or heard before all the time?
Click to expand...

Yup. We snatch words from everywhere, and when we can't find one, we make them up :) I have a pretty big vocabulary, but I often come upon words I'm not familiar with, especially in scholarly papers or serious essays. Keeps reading fun :)
 
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skimom2

skimom2

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Oct 9, 2013
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blunthead said:
I like to at least think my vocabulary's increasing as I perform my own many-other functions day to day. I did notice, as I read good fiction, my ability to formulate sentences improving. But I can't say I've necessarily realized an improvement in my vocabulary, via reading, playing word games, and doing whatever else I might be doing in an attempt to improve it. Maybe I'm describing an effect of age on memory. I still struggle trying to recall this word or that; end up searching for it online.

I don't know other languages; can't compare any vs English in terms of complexity or degree of difficulty learning and executing the performance of. But I've heard that English is quite the challenge to master.
Click to expand...

I'd bet you're adding to your reading and writing vocab all the time without being aware of it. Remember, we have three vocabularies: reading (biggest), writing (a bit smaller), and spoken (the smallest).

One thing I find weird is that as I get older, my spoken vocabulary is changing. I feel like I'm losing some if my simplest words, or at least that they're not the first to come to mind. More complex words (usually better connotatively) strike me way more often.
 
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Walter Oobleck

Walter Oobleck

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doowopgirl said:
I have a question. When to use good and when to use well.
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Wells are deep subjects and should be afforded respect. Use good when speaking of the Oobleck and reverence wouldn't hurt, either. Ok. Kidding. After reading Thoreoux...didn't spell that right. Alexander Theroux...guy who wrote Adultery, Laura Warholic, Three Wogs...sensed from reading him that one should avoid beginning a sentence with well. As in dialogue, as that is when this one character took another to task when she did use well at the beginning of a sentence. Other than that I got nothing. When in doubt, refrain.
 
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blunthead

blunthead

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doowopgirl said:
I have a question. When to use good and when to use well.
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Good vs. Well - Grammar & Punctuation | The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation

Good vs. Well
Good is an adjective while well is an adverb answering the question how. Sometimes well also functions as an adjective pertaining to health.
Examples:
You did a good job.
Good describes job, which is a noun, so good is an adjective.

You did the job well.
Well is an adverb describing how the job was performed.

I feel well.
Well is an adjective describing I.

Rule: With the four senses—look, smell, taste, feel—discern if these words are being used actively to decide whether to follow them with good or well. (Hear is always used actively.)
Examples:
You smell good today.
Good describes you, not how you sniff with your nose.

You smell well for someone with a cold.
You are sniffing actively with your nose here so use the adverb.

She looks good for a 75-year-old grandmother.
She is not looking actively with eyes so use the adjective.

Rule: When referring to health, always use well.
Examples:
I do not feel well today.
You do not look well.

Rule: When describing someone’s emotional state, use good.
Example: He doesn’t feel good about having cheated.

So, how should you answer the question, “How are you?” If you think someone is asking about your physical well-being, answer, “I feel well,” or “I don’t feel well.” If someone is asking about your emotional state, answer, “I feel good,” or “I don’t feel good.”
 
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blunthead

blunthead

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blunthead

blunthead

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Aug 2, 2006
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Atlanta GA
EMARX said:
Ms. Mod, if the latest nor-easter comes near, you don't want to have any bare patches, lest you find them hard to bear. Then you might have to resort to Bayer.
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I was camping once with a friend. It was late and we were asleep in our tent when we were awakened by the sound of a crash. I peeked through the tent's opening, I huge bear was going through our trash. I turned back to my friend to tell him of our visitor, then whispered, "I hope he's not a bear of bad news", and smiled. If my friend had not laughed he might have survived.
 
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Walter Oobleck

Walter Oobleck

keeps coming back...or going, and going, and going
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Moderator said:
When to use bare or bear

The adjective bare means uncovered, naked or exposed (i.e., without cover, clothing or cladding).

If you don't intend the meaning to have that definition, then you should use the word bear.
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Unless you're like three or maybe it was four. Niece way back when, bear-makin'...just out of the bath, Aunty was holding out a towel in a come-here gesture, and our niece held her arms out, her fingers clawing in and out. She announced she was bear-makin'. Or was she bare-makin'?
 
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skimom2

skimom2

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Oct 9, 2013
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Moderator said:
When to use bare or bear

The adjective bare means uncovered, naked or exposed (i.e., without cover, clothing or cladding).

If you don't intend the meaning to have that definition, then you should use the word bear.
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Reminds me of one I see often in badly written romances: "He put his arm around her tiny waste." I think he'd prefer putting his arm around her waist. Big difference. HUGE.
 
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