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#96089 02/18/03 06:46 AM
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Stiffneckedness/Stubbornness
Which word do u think is better?
Well when i write narrative essays,i like using stiffneckedness,it's a quite descriptive
I first read this word from the book of Morman
but i've never seen any author using this word
Is this word ordinary in comptemporary English?
wat is the appropriate way of using it?


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I associate stiffnecked(ness) with religious language, particularly the Bible. I'm not sure, but I think it may be a loan translation from the Hebrew. I think it would only be used where both speaker and listener had a good knowledge of the Bible. For more ordinary language I'd use stubborn(ness).

Bingley


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Stiffneckedness is not, in my experience, a commonly used word. Its meaning is readily understandable but it isn't commonly used. Stubbornness would be the better choice in normal writing. You should wait until you don't have to ask this question before you use stiffneckedness.


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Does stiffneckedness have anything to do with having an air of superiority? Don't know why I'm thinking this, but.


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having an air of superiority?

I would agree with this, and add that it also, to me, shows a bit of stupidity...
I had never connected stiffnecked to anything biblical, what's that all about?



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Stiffnecknedness is refusal to bow the head to authority.Stubbornness is the refusal
to yield, but does not include the token of refusing to bow. I can be
stubborn in refusing to give up a bad habit.


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The Bible uses the word a number of times in different books in the sense of stubborn or obstinate, both of which are substituted for it in some books.

This is typical:

The Lord said to Moses, “I see this is a stiffnecked people. Now let Me be, that my anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them...” (Exodus, 32: 9, 10)

Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose.



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what version of Bible are we talking? wouldn't the translation of that be dependent on when the translation was made? King James vs. a later one?



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There are later ones?


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Re: There are later ones?

spoken like a true blue englishman! yes, there are later ones, and earlier ones, and other translations. the Catholic Church (Roman) does not accept the KJV of the bible to be a "true" translation...and various other religions would not accept the KJV either.

it it the most widely known translation, and certainly, the english in the translation is very poetic, and flowing. one only has to google to find hundreds of different translations.


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