tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post1284705825991730949..comments2024-03-14T10:31:26.918+00:00Comments on DCblog: On looking wellDChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-67435991240032823332010-10-02T04:26:56.071+00:002010-10-02T04:26:56.071+00:00I just love blogging and as i get spare time from ...I just love blogging and as i get spare time from busy schedule i start working on it. Wonderful post, I really enjoyed reading it!ianhttp://howtodealwithdepression.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-48155571342990968552010-09-29T15:15:58.998+00:002010-09-29T15:15:58.998+00:00Thanks, Bob. That's new to me too.
I still t...Thanks, Bob. That's new to me too.<br /><br />I still think the understated "not bad" response covers everything!<br /><br />Also, feel the "between you and I" hyper-correction, Allison. It seems to be cropping up more and more. Any insights?Mohammed UKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12729413072431658626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-4107258484616323252010-08-21T11:37:05.448+00:002010-08-21T11:37:05.448+00:00I forget which British musician I heard explaining...I forget which British musician I heard explaining that in jazz circles they say<br /><br /><i>Yes, he plays <b>well</b>, but does he play <b>good</b>?</i>David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-38731785332498743372010-08-19T19:03:45.418+00:002010-08-19T19:03:45.418+00:00Of course. Mark's posts are always interesting...Of course. Mark's posts are always interesting.<br /><br />I wasn't intending to suggest that formality was the only factor, but it is certainly a factor which ought not to be discounted.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-52544214863678905942010-08-19T16:45:43.830+00:002010-08-19T16:45:43.830+00:00'...where more formal usage requires go slowly...'...where more formal usage requires go slowly...'<br /><br />Not quite the way I'd have expected you to frame a reference to that distinction. Slow as an adverb is surely not an issue of formality? Perhaps this would interest you: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004231.htmlJeremy Wheelernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-89992754815887504472010-08-19T16:27:42.575+00:002010-08-19T16:27:42.575+00:00Bob: hadn't come across that one. Interesting ...Bob: hadn't come across that one. Interesting indeed!<br /><br />Anonymous, whoever you are: there was overlap, yes, but this doesn't affect my point, which is that the semantic contrast, once it came to be insisted upon, is now viewed as a loss.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-880566679541985392010-08-19T16:15:51.768+00:002010-08-19T16:15:51.768+00:00If I understand my OED correctly the distinction ...If I understand my OED correctly the distinction between uninterested and disinterested is something that has developed relatively recently - earlier they were more or less interchangeable, either word being capable of bearing both meanings.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-23044231660591045342010-08-19T16:15:07.165+00:002010-08-19T16:15:07.165+00:00That's going to cause an interesting complicat...That's going to cause an interesting complication in my (West Midlands) regional dialect. In these parts "looks well" usually means something like "looks ridiculous".<br />Certainly among older residents the phrases "'Er looks well" and "'E looks well" would not be taken as compliments.Bob Halehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09648768078027630120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-20690430016616507622010-08-19T15:14:20.161+00:002010-08-19T15:14:20.161+00:00Jan, Sarah: I didn't mean to exclude look well...Jan, Sarah: I didn't mean to exclude <i>look well</i> from my comment, when I talked about these locutions having a history. Thanks for the examples.<br /><br />And yes, if my hypothesis is right, this could be taken as a hypercorrection.DChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10192779827863835310noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-15412037057668111192010-08-19T14:47:01.017+00:002010-08-19T14:47:01.017+00:00Could another reason simply be hyper correction? T...Could another reason simply be hyper correction? The well/good prescription is well known (no pun intended) and people want to speak correctly, so they use well more than good, just like the somewhat recent "between you and I" as a hyper correction.A Mittonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03017133301345946872noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-34848407268837518032010-08-19T06:29:27.065+00:002010-08-19T06:29:27.065+00:00It seems to be fairly common now, in some circles ...It seems to be fairly common now, in some circles anyway, to compliment someone on their dress sense by telling them they look 'well good'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-8984043121719046312010-08-19T06:09:24.840+00:002010-08-19T06:09:24.840+00:00Jane Austen used the expression in this way, e.g.&...Jane Austen used the expression in this way, e.g."I have some notion of putting such a trimming as this to my white and silver poplin. Do you think it will look well?" (Emma)Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-9557669067851493102010-08-19T05:02:14.801+00:002010-08-19T05:02:14.801+00:00To me it looks of a piece with "I feel badly ...To me it looks of a piece with "I feel badly about it", i.e. confusing a complement with a modifier.mollymoolynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-10090138804324314012010-08-19T02:18:11.409+00:002010-08-19T02:18:11.409+00:00If I had to guess, I'd say it was a prescripti...If I had to guess, I'd say it was a prescriptivist reaction to the misunderstanding that goes "'Look' is a verb; 'good' is an adjective; can't have an adjective modify a verb; must use an adverb; 'well' is an adverb."<br /><br />I think this is an outgrowth of the belief that it is ungrammatical to answer "How are you?" with "I am good."<br /><br />Presumably, if you ask these people to describe their height, they say "I am shortly."Levi Montgomeryhttp://www.levimontgomery.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8377709913595182916.post-61320432177442803722010-08-19T01:37:42.839+00:002010-08-19T01:37:42.839+00:00I must beg to differ with at least part of your ar...I must beg to differ with at least part of your argument: "looking well" is not new but old, even (to my ear) old-fashioned. Two minutes on Google Books gave me plenty of examples like these:<br /><br />Godey's magazine, 1894: "The tiny overlapping sequins of jet trim a black silk skirt effectively, and the narrow braids look well on the cloth skirts, but trimming on crepon does not look well excepting on the waists."<br /><br />Good Housekeeping magazine, 1888: "The potato should be cut into as perfect cubes as possible and quite small, large pieces and small all mixed together do not look well." <br /><br />Ambrose Bierce, American journalist and language stickler, letter, 1904: "O never mind the reasons; some of them would not look well on paper."<br /><br />I only checked 19th-c sources but I'd expect to find many earlier and some later ... unless you find them first!Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01579983806826643000noreply@blogger.com