Hey guys...

First of all I would just like to say hello to you all. I am currently an A-level student (from England) and I will no doubt be posting here often asking for word help.

So here is my first world:

How would you use the world 'per se'? What does it mean?

I have read the dictionary definition and I can't quite get to grips with it.

Thank you for your time...

Jason

I used to read dictionaries a lot, but my poor memory has convinced me the effort is futile. I tend to mirror the usage I percieve around me.

For this word, here are examples of how I might use it:

"Neither programmer nor their creations are, per se, logical."

"Pluto should not be considered a planet, per se, lest we should consider every bit of dust wandering about in our vicinity similarly."

"Life does not require exact reproduction, per se."

k

Hi Jason,

Welcome aboard. I'm sure you'l like it.

You might want to pop on over to information and announcement and look in the thread titled "Tips for newcomers." You'll find a lot of useful information there.


I'm not sure what an A-level student means, we don't use those categories here in Québec, Canada, but your writing seems quite good so I'm assuming it means you are in the top level of a grade. So let me turn your question around...how would you use the expression? Or what do you interpret it to mean? You may just be absolutely correct.

(Though I am learning, from being here on the Board, that there are not so many "absolutes" as "subject to interpretation" )

In law, we use the phrase "per se" to mean "in and of itself" or "intrinsically".

And it's involved in the etymology of the word ampersand, which is a slightly assimilated form of the phrase "and, per se and", meaning that the character '&' is the word and in and of itself.

Reading dictionaries is an end unto itself, FF. The effort is immune to futility.

I would use it as a fancy way to say "exactly what you would call", but put it behind the described phrase instead of in front. As in "Zed is not a linguistic expert, per se, but she does talk a lot."

Fancier but more concise.

Or you could say:

"Zed is not a linguistic expert, as such, but she has exceptional experience in using words."

Or you could say:

"Zed is not a linguistic expert, as such, but her use of words is captivating."

Do you find yourself looking up the same word over and over and over? It has been suggested to me: place a small dot in front of the word each time you reference it. Amazing how many rather large groups of dots accumulate over the years!

I know exactly what you mean. I have trouble with a few words that have the same meaning in English and French but are spelled differently. Like envelope/enveloppe. I always have to look that one up. You'd think it would have sunk in by now.

I used to have trouble with address and adresse until I found a memory jogger for the English version. I think of an "Ad" for a "Dress." It's plain, but it works.

Looking words up over and over and over.

Yes, I do it all the time. Mostly I use online dictionaries (m-w and onelook). The problem is I just can't remember things unless I use them a lot. I think condition is why I eventually took to math and programming - very little memorization, complicated things can be derived from much simpler things.

I play word games - scrabble, boggle, etc. I don't know how many times I've looked up 'cwm' and 'dite' and 'qat' - dozens for each. But I just can't seem to remember most of them. There's a large number of other words like that.

OTOH, while my functional vocabulary is probably a lot smaller than most of the people on this forum, it's still pretty large - and I actually use a lot of words - particularly when I write. But even with words I know and have known - or thought I knew - I've discovered that I was off in spelling or definition. Aside from typos and 'thinkos', for example, I spelt rapport as "repoire" once ... and a few other things. Just last week I gave my daughter in HS the wrong definition of a word when she tested me. (They like helping me study in this way.)

k