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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread by default once more #189144 02/08/2010 9:26 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague "He tried law instead but found that insupportably dull and finally managed, more or less by default, to aquire a degree in divinity from Cambridge." I've asked about default before, but the default thing still isn't clear to me. I've tried to find out by searching net and dictionary. No way. Could one of you kindly put the "more or less by default" part in other words so I may at last understand? I think it is meaning "by default of something better". Is that correct? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: by default once more BranShea #189145 02/08/2010 9:48 AM Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada Zed Pooh-Bah Zed Pooh-Bah Joined: Aug 2002 Posts: 2,154 British Columbia, Canada I often use it to mean "that which you do when you don't have instructions/good reasons to do something else." e.g. I tell my patients to sit up and move around; to lay in bed only when they need to rest and not as their default position. In this case I get the impression that the divinity degree was not chosen for any specific reason or interest but was what "everyone" studied unless they had a specific interest in another area. I think this was the case historically. In what year is your book set? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: by default once more Zed #189146 02/08/2010 10:36 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Thank you. It then has more or less the meaning I guessed. This is about Darwin from a book where people like me learn a tiny little bit about nearly everything. Long term reading but very entertaining and interesting. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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