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Pete
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:42 pm
Post subject: unsureness |
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Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word "unsureness" just
sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer something along the lines of
"insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what you
native speaker think about it.
Thanks for your help!
Pete
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:46 pm
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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Pete wrote:
| Quote: | Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what you
native speaker think about it.
|
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in the
OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:21 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:46:52 +0100, "John Dean"
<john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what you
native speaker think about it.
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in the
OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
|
The word seems to be currently used, though. Google says so.
I don't think I'd use it, but I can see the case for "There's a
certain amount of unsureness in his putting stroke".
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL
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baldycotton
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:29 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:42:51 +0200, "Pete" <wolffpeter@t-online.de>
wrote:
| Quote: | But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what you
native speaker think about it.
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I fairly sure I've seen it in print, but I cannot recall ever hearing
it spoken. It just sounds odd. |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:37 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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"Pete" <wolffpeter@t-online.de> wrote in message
news:dim29g$l1v$02$1@news.t-online.com...
| Quote: | Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word "unsureness"
just
sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer something along the lines of
"insecurity."
|
The common-language equivalent is probably uncertainty
-- widely used in many contexts.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada) |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 4:52 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: | On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:46:52 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what
you native speaker think about it.
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in
the OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
The word seems to be currently used, though. Google says so.
|
Uh huh. Did you see some significant difference between "not a word you
hear or see much these days" and "word seems to be currently used"?
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 6:48 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:52:56 +0100, "John Dean"
<john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:46:52 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what
you native speaker think about it.
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in
the OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
The word seems to be currently used, though. Google says so.
Uh huh. Did you see some significant difference between "not a word you
hear or see much these days" and "word seems to be currently used"?
|
Well, yes. Combined with the bit about the latest cite being almost
150 years ago, it seemed to me that Google shows more current and
common use than what might be inferred from your statement.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL |
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John Dean
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:26 pm
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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Tony Cooper wrote:
| Quote: | On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:52:56 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:46:52 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what
you native speaker think about it.
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in
the OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
The word seems to be currently used, though. Google says so.
Uh huh. Did you see some significant difference between "not a word
you hear or see much these days" and "word seems to be currently
used"?
Well, yes. Combined with the bit about the latest cite being almost
150 years ago, it seemed to me that Google shows more current and
common use than what might be inferred from your statement.
|
What you inferred is not what I implied. It seems to hinge on "much" (or
"not ... much"). Apart from finding it on less than a hundredth of one
per cent of the pages Google has catalogued, do you see it much?
--
John Dean
Oxford |
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Weatherlawyer
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:36 pm
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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There would, it seems, appear to be a degree of uncertainty about the
level of sureness concerning the word (or not, as the case may be.) |
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Tony Cooper
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2005 8:29 pm
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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On Fri, 14 Oct 2005 14:26:04 +0100, "John Dean"
<john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 23:52:56 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Tony Cooper wrote:
On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 18:46:52 +0100, "John Dean"
john-dean@frag.lineone.net> wrote:
Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
But, of course, it's in the dictionary and so I was wondering what
you native speaker think about it.
It's not a word you hear or see much these days. The latest cite in
the OED is almost 150 years ago. Probably better to avoid it.
The word seems to be currently used, though. Google says so.
Uh huh. Did you see some significant difference between "not a word
you hear or see much these days" and "word seems to be currently
used"?
Well, yes. Combined with the bit about the latest cite being almost
150 years ago, it seemed to me that Google shows more current and
common use than what might be inferred from your statement.
What you inferred is not what I implied. It seems to hinge on "much" (or
"not ... much"). Apart from finding it on less than a hundredth of one
per cent of the pages Google has catalogued, do you see it much?
|
Hell, John, I don't *see* a great many of the words and phrases used
in aue much. I don't think I've ever seen or heard "fricative" in the
wild. I would be absolutely banjaxed if I'd see or hear "Estuary
English" anywhere except in aue/aeu in the next year.
However, I would not at all be surprised to hear "unsureness".
Actually, I probably wouldn't catch it. It would be normal enough
that I wouldn't pick it out. It's not that every sixth person who I
run into works "unsureness" into the conversation, but that it's a
word that currently exists and might be used.
In replying to non-native English speakers, I think one has to be a
bit generous in replying to what is "right" or "not right". The NNE
speaker can get the impression that a grievous error has been
committed if a particular word or phase is used that is a particular
word or phrase that English mavens discourage. The NNE speaker is
usually looking for insights in how to speak and understand everyday
English. Everyday English includes words and terms that don't pass
muster here, but are words and terms that he really might hear on the
Clapham omnibus or at the bus stop in Flatbush.
Rather than worry about commonness of "unsureness", I'd point out the
difference between that word and "uncertainty". As I pointed out in
my example, someone could show some "unsureness" in their putting
stroke, but that's not the same as some "uncertainty" in their putting
stroke.
obAue: That "What you inferred is not what I implied" bothers me. As
the sentence is used, it reads that what I infer is the direct result
of what you imply. I don't think that's the case. Sometimes the
writer might imply something with the intention of having a particular
inference taken, but quite often inferences taken are completely
different from what the writer intended to imply or from a statement
that was not designed to imply anything.
--
Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL |
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Iain
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 2:33 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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Pete wrote:
| Quote: | Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word "unsureness" just
sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer something along the lines of
"insecurity."
|
Unsurety.
The reason your word sounds wrong is that it blends Norman with Saxon
where a Norman alternative is possible.
~Iain |
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Matti Lamprhey
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2005 5:54 am
Post subject: Re: unsureness |
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"Iain" <iain_inkster@hotmail.com> wrote...
| Quote: |
Pete wrote:
Hi everybody!
Maybe it is because I'm a non-native speaker, but the word
"unsureness" just sounds strange (or even wrong). I'd prefer
something along the lines of "insecurity."
Unsurety.
The reason your word sounds wrong is that it blends Norman with Saxon
where a Norman alternative is possible.
|
And that word is Incertitude.
Matti |
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