Natasha Warner
Yesterday I got an email from a member of a committee that I chaired, thanking me for my "horrific leadership." The person writing it is not a native English speaker, and the tone of the rest of the email, and the whole thread, was positive. I'm pretty sure the person meant "terrific." The more I think about it, how should anyone be able to remember that "terror" turns into a positive thing in one of its adjective forms, but "horror" doesn't? #AcademicChatter #Linguistics
Feb 4 at 4:53pmWeb
Show threaddrhoopoeFeb 4
@nwarner That's fantastic (which somehow doesn't mean unreal).
Show threadHead·word /ˈhedˌwɜː(ɹ)d/ n.Feb 4
@nwarner My father has told me of a colleague of his, who would tell English speaking guests that they are ‘heartly welcome’ (a direct translation of a common phrase in Danish) without realizing that ‘heartly’ is not a common English word, and it sounds like ‘hardly’.
Show threadCarrie HyndsFeb 4
@nwarner That's brilliant! It can sit alongside my all-time favourite "Knowledge is power — France is bacon".
Show threadMonsieur RalphFeb 4
@nwarner honorific?
Show threadmilla🧷Feb 4
@nwarner horrible, terrible, horrific, terrific. I know one of these is not like the others, but always need to think carefully which one.
Show threadPolly KraisusFeb 4
@nwarner awake at night wondering "What did I do wrong to inspire horror rather than terror"
Show threadRuss SharekFeb 4

@nwarner

I'd frame it.

Show threadnellie-mFeb 5

@nwarner @ShaulaEvans

wow. True.

So far, I only realised that “universal” doesn’t necessarily mean “cosmic”.

Show threadRob CarlsonFeb 5
@nwarner I have also received these emails from native English speakers 😀
Show threadCotterzzFeb 5
@nwarner
I never thought about that, I guess it is confusing, like awful, awfully and awesome.
Show threadslashFeb 5

@nwarner I'll never be able to see this word again without thinking about this. ;)

But I'm also still stuck on Polish vs. polish, and unionized vs. unionized. How's anyone supposed to keep all these special cases straight?

Now that I think of it, perhaps English is the *cause* of current political problems. When words can mean opposite things at the same time, how can rational thought proceed?

Show threadNicdFeb 6
@nwarner When I was a kid, I used to frequent this web forum where among other banter I would say how inferior I was. I meant to say I was superior, but I thought inferior meant that because it kinda sounded like "on fire" and fire was cool.
Show threadJamesFeb 20
@nwarner it took me YEARS to realise that "terrific" means something positive and still, after 30 years of learning and speaking English, my very first instinctive reaction is always something negative, hence me never using the word myself 😂