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Posted By: belMarduk Slovenly - 10/30/02 12:59 PM
Please tell me that you guys know what slovenly means.

I've just lost 20 $ to my hubby because of that word. Yesterday, he forgot to wear a tie when going off to work so I teased him and said, "oh sure, go to work all slovenly."

Well, he gave me that blank look again, and asked what on earth I meant. After I explained, he told me nobody but me would know what that word meant. He is French so I argued that English people would definitely know it - but we left it at that.

Today, he brought it up again and we bet on it. I said the English folks in our office would know what it meant - he said the majority would not.

Pssshhhhh...not only did the majority not know - - - nobody knew!! Dag nabbit!

He often tells me I use words nobody else would. Does that happen to you guys?



Posted By: Capital Kiwi Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 01:01 PM
Where I come from, slovenly is common coinage. And a quick office survey has elicited the information that the two people that I asked also know what it means.

Posted By: Bean Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 01:15 PM
I know what slovenly means! I am also buffeted all the time by the wind, so maybe I'm not the right person to ask.

He often tells me I use words nobody else would. Does that happen to you guys?

All the time. But what is life, if not the continuous search for the perfect word to describe whatever you might encounter? There's a strange kind of power in that!

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 01:15 PM
Slovenly is an easy word. I hear people use it from time to time. Even country people out in the sticks where I live use slovenly.

I think you should win your bet.

I will quiz my fifth graders who are coming in a minute to see how many of them know what it means. I'll let them know that I don't want them "slovenly" for the winter concert.



Posted By: vika Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 01:25 PM
Even I know it!

Posted By: wwh Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 01:35 PM
slovenly - 1515, "low, base, lewd," later "untidy, dirty"
(1568), from sloven "immoral woman" (1450), probably
from M.Flem. sloovin "a scold," related to sloef "untidy,
shabby," from P.Gmc. *slup-.

But now not quite so insulting. Close to "unkempt".

Posted By: TEd Remington Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 02:26 PM
You need to find a new job!

Posted By: of troy Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 02:57 PM
yes, i know it.. common word... you used it perfectly!

Posted By: Jackie Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 06:06 PM
He often tells me I use words nobody else would. Does that happen to you guys?
Gosh, yes, bel--delighted to see you here, by the way!
Like with Bean, "All the time." I think you should win your bet on account of people in your office not necessarily being native English-speakers!
CK, glad to see your research was so thorough...

Posted By: Sparteye Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 06:34 PM
It is common enough that I am surprised that nobody in your office knew it, Bel.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 06:35 PM
sheesh. common enough word in my circles. buy the guy a dictionary...



Posted By: nancyk Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 08:51 PM
How many did you survey in your office, bel? I can't believe no one was familiar with slovenly; I don't think it's unusual at all, but will do my own survey. Maybe I'm giving credit where none is due.

Posted By: modestgoddess Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 09:01 PM
I'm with nancyk and the others above - I know what slovenly means. I never would have thought there could be anyone English-speaking and, ahem, "educated" enough to work in an office environment, who WOULDN'T know....but then, what do I know!

I wrote an introduction to the local daily's back-to-school supplement and I quoted Angela's Ashes (that wonderful "Stock your mind" speech the headmaster gave). My editor had never heard of Angela's Ashes - neither (nyether!) book nor movie - and was very confused. I was very confused by HER confusion, since I'd thought the tidal wave of publicity on which Angela's Ashes surfed for so long could hardly have failed to overcome everyone in North America, at least, if not the English-speaking world.

Sometimes you just git surprised by what people do and don't know....It's a funny ol' world.

Edit: just read wwh's post below and now suddenly hope I didn't help to inspire it....nor anyone here, really. I didn't get the sense people were criticising belM for asking...? that certainly wasn't my intention. And I don't know where you work, belM - are you in a mostly French-speaking office? if so, that might be the reason why your colleagues were unfamiliar with the word - but I know a few francophones whose English is better than that of many anglophones, so being a francophone might not be a legitimate excuse either (eeether!)! - Anyway - no offense meant and I hope none taken?
Posted By: wwh Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 09:09 PM
I am concerned that questions about this post may hurt feelings of belMarduk. Since French
is her primary language, I think it is in poor taste to criticise her asking our opinions.




Posted By: bonzaialsatian Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 11:05 PM
Sometimes you just git surprised by what people do and don't know
Too true! This reminds me of a little incident this morning... actually, I think I'll make this a seperate post...

EDIT: Did it! It's in Miscillany under 'Is it just me?'
Posted By: Wordwind Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 11:24 PM
I'm glad BelMarduk asked our opinions, wwh. We're backing her up. She used the word slovenly and expected it to be a somewhat known word. And we agree with her.

Slovenly would be a pretty easy word on the SAT, for instance, and a shoo-in on the GRE, I'd bet. Hey, maybe I should write to the Princeton people and see what they think!


WW

Posted By: AnnaStrophic May I? - 10/30/02 11:24 PM
belM did say she asked the Anglos in her office, not the population at large in her office.

Dr. Bill, I don't think anyone was criticizing her. I know her and I doubt very seriously she'd take any of this as anything but solidarity. It's the kind of thing that happens to many of us -- which is why we take refuge here.

edit: 6 seconds, eh, WW?
Posted By: consuelo Re: Slovenly - 10/30/02 11:42 PM
I know this word too. Where I work, people always look at me funny regarding the words I use. Based on this, I think most of the people I work with probably don't know what slovenly means either, but then most of them also think guacamole is nasty. *sigh*

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: apologies - 10/31/02 12:09 AM
I, too, apologize if I said anything that hurt anyone's feelings. what I meant was bel's husband needs a dictionary.
we don't learn anything is we don't ask questions!

Posted By: milum Re: Slovenly - 10/31/02 12:19 AM
Good Grief Yall, "slovenly" doesn't just mean unkept, (except by extension) "slovenly" also means "sloth like"...as in... "slow...lazy"


Sometimes I wonder where you yankees boys get your notions.





Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Slovenly - 10/31/02 12:25 AM
unkempt.

at the middle school in which I teach, we have a few "slovenly" students. slow, and sloppy; unmotivated; generally glumpy... sad, actually. hard to get kids like that going, and hard to know what sets them on that course.

Posted By: wwh Re: Slovenly - 10/31/02 01:38 AM
Dear etaoin: A lot of slobby boys suddenly become fashion plates when their voices have
changed and they suddenly notice girls prefer well dressed escorts. Thank Heaven for little
girls.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Slovenly - 10/31/02 01:45 AM
true, Bill, I have seen that happen. however, slobby is cool right now... ah youth....



Posted By: C J Strolin Re: Slovenly - 10/31/02 11:50 PM
"All I want is a room somewhere,
"Far away from the cold night air,
"With one enormous chair.
"Oh, wouldn't it be slovenly!"


Posted By: Wordwind Re: Slovenly - 11/01/02 12:12 AM
I polled 23 fifth graders today. I had written the word Slovenly on the white board. I told them that I post on a vocabulary board on the internet, and that one of my fellow poster's husbands had said that slovenly was a rare word most people wouldn't understand. I then asked them what they thought "slovenly" meant. 13 fifth graders aid, "Sloppy." Several said, "Inappropriate." And there were some other incorrect responses. Still, 13 were correct. That should do the trick, huh, belMarduk?

Posted By: Sparteye Nasssssty avacados - 11/03/02 12:47 AM
but then most of them also think guacamole is nasty

Well, they are right about that, anyway.

Posted By: Faldage Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/03/02 12:11 PM
right about that

Ha! When I was but a wee sprout my mother told me I would like avocadoes. I, of course, knowing that nothing that looked so ugly could ever be palatable, poohpoohed her. Then, many years later, I got a job washing dishes at the Franciscan Café in Flagstaff, Arizona. Every meal served at the Franciscan Café came with a little paper shot glass filled with guacamole with a little corn curl stuck in it. Ninety-nine people out of ten wouldn't eat their guacamole so the little shot glasses came back to the dishroom, contents intact. I soon learned to scoop the guac' before dumping the residue in the trash and discovered that I loved the stuff. Later I discovered that the avocado didn't even need the addition of spices, etc., to be delicious (although the additions certainly didn't hurt anything).

Posted By: of troy Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/03/02 01:11 PM
i too was an adult before tasting an avacado. but i remembered reading about them.. Sylvia Plath, (unless my memory is playing tricks)in A Bell Jar wrote about attending a (part of college scholarship) luncheon, and one course was avacados stuff with crab meat (cold as a salad) the she maveled at the colors, the green, fading to yellow, contrasting with the pink and white, the creaminess of the avacado, the way both the crab and avacado has butter tastes..(it was her first encounter with an avacado, too!)
well, i didn't run out and buy one, but i was primed. so the first time i was offered avacado, and some asked if i liked it, i said, "never have had it, but i am sure i will like it" and i did!

it is interesting how one persons description, can color our view of something isn't it?

grape skins don't 'agree' with me, and early on, i came to dislike raisens since they always made me feel sick. by extention, i was wary of all dried fruit, (and still don't ever seek it out) but when i read Mrs. Mike (Freeman, husband & wife) and the character talked about making wonderful pies with dried apples, and went on about dried apples in general.. i tried dried apples. apples and dates are the only dried fruit i like.
i have learned to taste and enjoy foods i might never have tried, because of things i have read about them.


Posted By: wow Re: Yummy dates - 11/03/02 03:01 PM
apples and dates are the only dried fruit i like.
<
Have you tried Medjool dates? Gift from the gods!
Looks like it's dried but it isn't and can be eaten "as is." However may also be soaked in lukewarn (tepid) water for 10 minutes or so and it melts in your mouth. Sweeter than candy ... almost better than s** !!!
<
As to "slovenly" well, if you are still sitting around in your nightgown and bathrobe at noontime that's slovenly, or so my Mother used to tell me. ;)

I think most young people would get the meaning from context even if they had not heard it commonly used. All the people I asked know what it means. However it may not be a word you'd see in a "conversational English"
book, so do let poor hubby off the hook ... after you've collected your $20!!
Posted By: vika Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/03/02 03:40 PM
Ninety-nine people out of ten

was it a miracle?

Posted By: RhubarbCommando Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/03/02 07:59 PM
Ninety-nine people out of ten

was it a miracle?


Nah, vika - just about par for the course


And slovenly, dearest belM, whilst not the most common word in thelanguage, is well understood over here, and usage is not particularly rare.

Posted By: Bingley Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/04/02 02:18 AM
Avocado juice is very popular over here, usually with a spiral of chocolate milk round the inside of the glass.

Bingley
Posted By: modestgoddess Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/04/02 04:45 PM
all this talk of avocadoes is making me sad....I like 'em but can't eat 'em. They doesn't agree with me. Enjoy, you lucky people whose guts don't gripe over 'em!

Posted By: consuelo Re: Nasssssty avacados - 11/04/02 10:27 PM
The Haas avocado has the most flavor. That is the avocado with the pebbly dark skin. At it's peak of ripeness, when gently squeezed, it gives but doesn't gush. Don't eat the brown bruised flesh, only the green/yellow flesh. Try spreading it on saltines with just a pinch of salt........ummmmmm [eyes closed in exstacy-e] Best when consumed in the tropics

Posted By: belMarduk Re: slovenly - 12/02/02 09:06 PM
Thanks a lot everyone.

Unfortunately, I wont't be collecting a 20$ from my hubby since the bet involved the folks in our office.

I think some of you may be right though, the French influence in Québec could have made the word rarer. We have adopted many French words into our vocabulary that are not in any other English-speaking country.

And Haas avocados are definitely *the* best. Mmmmmm, pitted with diced shrimps in the centre and a light creamy dressing on top,mmmmmmmmm.


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