Vocabulary
I just wrote an email to Ducky (hehheh, I remembered the name I've given him for blogging purposes). In it I used the word "liable" as in "right now I'm liable to accept a card board box." In other words, my mind is mush right now, too much going on in there even for me.
Well, after I sent the email, I realized that "liable" is actually another word for "accountable." So I thought, "But, that doesn't make sense in my sentence then, does it?" So I looked it up and as usual, I'm sitting here using words without thinking about it, wondering if I used them right, and then finding out I did.
Also, I never thought about it, but liable, apt, and likely are also stored properly in my head. I wondered if "apt" was a better choice but thought no, because I'm not always like this, usually I think better than this and wouldn't just go around accepting cardboard boxes. Yet, I didn't understand why that made a difference until I read Dictionary.com's Usage Note about the word 'liable.' And I didn't want to use likely (even before reading that usage note) because it didn't seem to have the same "negative" connotation associated with it in my head as "liable" did.
Amazing how we learn language and don't even realize it... I don't know where a lot of my vocabulary really comes from, either, unless it's because my mom uses big words a lot. Or maybe just because I used to read the dictionary. I dunno, but I don't exactly read a lot these days, and even if I did, that wouldn't explain my excellent spelling skills, because today's literature is FULL of typos. Where does my vocabulary come from? Where?! It really isn't that down there, for sure... otherwise, I wouldn't have to constantly repeat myself in new terms with so many people who don't know what the heck I'm talking about. The worst part is, I've been talking in "big words" for as long as I can remember - even in elementary school, I recall teachers and students commenting that my vocabulary was fairly good for someone my age.
Anyway, the Dictionary.com entry I'm referring to:
Usage Note: Liable, apt, and likely are often used interchangeably in constructions with infinitives, as in Zach is liable to lose, Zach is apt to lose, and Zach is likely to lose, but the three words have subtle distinctions in meaning. A traditional rule holds that liable should be used only if the subject would be adversely affected by the outcome expressed by the infinitive. The rule therefore permits Tim is liable to fall out of his chair if he doesn't sit up straight but not The chair is liable to be slippery, though constructions of the latter type have long been common in reputable writing. ·Apt usually suggests that the subject has a natural tendency enhancing the probability of an outcome and that the speaker is somewhat apprehensive about the outcome. Thus apt is more naturally used in a sentence like The fuel pump is apt to give out at any minute than in Even the clearest instructions are apt to be misinterpreted by those idiots (since the instructions are not at fault) or in The fuel pump is apt to give you no problems for the life of the car (since there is no reason that the speaker should regard such an outcome as unfortunate). ·Likely is more general than either liable or apt. It ascribes no particular property to the subject that would enhance the probability of the outcome. Thus, while John is apt to lose the election may suggest that the loss will result from something John does or fails to do, John is likely to lose the election does not. Nor does it suggest anything about the desirability of the outcome from the point of view of either the speaker or the subject. See Usage Note at likely.
Well, after I sent the email, I realized that "liable" is actually another word for "accountable." So I thought, "But, that doesn't make sense in my sentence then, does it?" So I looked it up and as usual, I'm sitting here using words without thinking about it, wondering if I used them right, and then finding out I did.
Also, I never thought about it, but liable, apt, and likely are also stored properly in my head. I wondered if "apt" was a better choice but thought no, because I'm not always like this, usually I think better than this and wouldn't just go around accepting cardboard boxes. Yet, I didn't understand why that made a difference until I read Dictionary.com's Usage Note about the word 'liable.' And I didn't want to use likely (even before reading that usage note) because it didn't seem to have the same "negative" connotation associated with it in my head as "liable" did.
Amazing how we learn language and don't even realize it... I don't know where a lot of my vocabulary really comes from, either, unless it's because my mom uses big words a lot. Or maybe just because I used to read the dictionary. I dunno, but I don't exactly read a lot these days, and even if I did, that wouldn't explain my excellent spelling skills, because today's literature is FULL of typos. Where does my vocabulary come from? Where?! It really isn't that down there, for sure... otherwise, I wouldn't have to constantly repeat myself in new terms with so many people who don't know what the heck I'm talking about. The worst part is, I've been talking in "big words" for as long as I can remember - even in elementary school, I recall teachers and students commenting that my vocabulary was fairly good for someone my age.
Anyway, the Dictionary.com entry I'm referring to:
Usage Note: Liable, apt, and likely are often used interchangeably in constructions with infinitives, as in Zach is liable to lose, Zach is apt to lose, and Zach is likely to lose, but the three words have subtle distinctions in meaning. A traditional rule holds that liable should be used only if the subject would be adversely affected by the outcome expressed by the infinitive. The rule therefore permits Tim is liable to fall out of his chair if he doesn't sit up straight but not The chair is liable to be slippery, though constructions of the latter type have long been common in reputable writing. ·Apt usually suggests that the subject has a natural tendency enhancing the probability of an outcome and that the speaker is somewhat apprehensive about the outcome. Thus apt is more naturally used in a sentence like The fuel pump is apt to give out at any minute than in Even the clearest instructions are apt to be misinterpreted by those idiots (since the instructions are not at fault) or in The fuel pump is apt to give you no problems for the life of the car (since there is no reason that the speaker should regard such an outcome as unfortunate). ·Likely is more general than either liable or apt. It ascribes no particular property to the subject that would enhance the probability of the outcome. Thus, while John is apt to lose the election may suggest that the loss will result from something John does or fails to do, John is likely to lose the election does not. Nor does it suggest anything about the desirability of the outcome from the point of view of either the speaker or the subject. See Usage Note at likely.
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