Comments on: The Unhappy Life of “Used To”

By: the survivors « the dude abides

the survivors « the dude abides — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 23:20:11 +0000

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By: odie

odie — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 17:41:20 +0000

To speak to the point raised by Heath, English is less precise. The anglo-saxon basis of English is a crude language for a practical people. In fact, as both of you are probably far more versed in than I, most of the Anglo-Saxon words in English are for common everyday objects. Moreover, the reason why Scientists borrow heavily from Greek is because it is a far more precise language than English. If a person is interested in a more exacting means of expressing the nature of his love for someone, then he might be well served to borrow a word from another language to do so. The practice of borrowing words from other languages has been a time-honored tradition throughout the history of the English language.

By: colter

colter — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 03:05:24 +0000

Obviously context is important, but it’s that overload question again. Having only one word for love and a hundred ways to say it is far less advantageous, I would think, than having a hundred words for love and hundred ways to say each of them. If only we used eros and agape, that would be a start…

By: Heath

Heath — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 02:39:10 +0000

I see nothing wrong with relying on context; we already do, anyway. So much of human communication is non-verbal, we’re already going to have to rely on context a lot.

Besides, when was the last time you had a conversation that didn’t have a context? Put another way, have you ever stated that someone was taking your words out of context and meant it as a good thing? ;)

By: colter

colter — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 23:38:29 +0000

And overload is a good thing? The overload is precisely the problem. I say, “I love olives” and that’s a completely different statement from “I love you.” The plasticity, the expressiveness has to come from context and connotation, which is something the English language in general relies heavily on.

One pleasant side effect is that the English language does allow scripted theatre to be performed in many different ways because so much of what we say is unspoken.

By: heath

heath — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 19:40:47 +0000

In defense of English, even though we only have one word for love, we overload it with all kinds of meanings.

For instance the single noun “love” in English is represented by at least two words in Greek: “eros” and “agapé.” Greek splits sexual and Platonic love into two separate concepts. (Although I don’t know about modern Greek; I’m talking ancient and Biblical Greek here). In English, it’s all one.

The result may be that English is less precise than other languages, but it’s also more plastic and expressive. And I think that makes up for the lack of precision.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 14:46:33 +0000

¡Que lastima!