|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2
stranger
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2 |
Hello,
Can anyone tell me the correct usage of the word "supple" ? I understand it means flexible, adaptable,etc. Can you use it in the form "If you don't exercise regularly, you tend to become less supple".
My friend says that it can only be used for inanimate objects. Is that true ?
Thanks.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear howdy: My dictionary say....." a supple body."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981 |
I'd agree with wwh. We tend to talk about dancers and athletes being supple.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door -
Pray, what is the reason for that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, " as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment - one shilling the box -
Allow me to sell you a couple!"
Lewis Carol, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I think I would be inclined to say that their bodies are supple. That is, "Dancers have supple bodies" but not "Dancers are supple". This also holds in the poem example above. Maybe just a personal preference?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
In my meandering thoughts, I've always wondered what etymological connection there might be between "supple", "supply", and "supplicate". Heck, why not throw in "supper" to make it a real challenge? Can you hear me, tsuwm? 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
At the doctor's office for my annual, she asked how close I could come to touching my toes. I reached down, knees locked, and put my hands flat on the floor!
"My goodness, you're supple!" my MD exclaimed.
True story and not a bad trick for an overweight 72-year-old. Actually I think it has a lot to do with the length of the arms in proportion to the body frame. Many short-armed tall people cannot touch their toes at all.
OK, so my friends have some weird party tricks!
The moral of the story being the use of supple is a personal preference, I think, or perhaps it is used differently in formal speaking than in casual conversation?
wow
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
supple and supplicant come from the same Latin root, supplic-, supplex suppliant, submissive, bending.
supply belongs to another family; supplere fill up, supplement
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2
stranger
|
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 2 |
Thanks, all for your help, it certainly helps out.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
So does "supper" come from supplere because you're filling yourself up, or from supplic- because you're submitting to it? Or does it all depend on who's cooking? 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
Well, my body comes as close as any to being inanimate!
TEd
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Well, my body comes as close as any to being inanimate!
-------------------------------------------------------
"Close" only counts in horseshoes and pregnancy.
wow
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 38
newbie
|
|
newbie
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 38 |
Close" only counts in horseshoes and pregnancy
handgranaids (sp?) & snowballs I've heard
CJ
CJ
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,412
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
907
guests, and
3
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
