Can anyone tell me the difference between barbarous and barbaric? Is there a time when one makes more sense than the other?
I was grading the NY English Regents today and came across the word "barbarous" in one of the reading passages. It got me a-thinking. The dictionary (Webster's) lists fairly similar definitions for them and they're both adjectives, so I'm curious if there's any difference in meaning or connotation between the two.
Can anyone tell me the difference between barbarous and barbaric? Just judging from the definitions in the AHD
http://www.bartleby.com/am/ barbaric doesn't seem to carry the connotation of cruelty that
barbarous does.
this is really a matter of subtle shadings; W2 goes into great length (under barbarian) as to these (I don't think you can find this online);
barbarous and savage are somewhat more common than barbaric and barbarian to indicate uncivilized cruelty, but all may be used. barbaric and barbarous are more common in relation to taste and refinement. barbaric connotes a wild, profuse lack of restraint; barbarous implies an utter lack of cultivated taste and refinement. I don't think this contradicts faldage...
My dictionary gives as first meaning for barbarous
1 orig., foreign or alien; in the ancient world, non-Greek, non-Roman, or non Christian.
http://www.regents.nysed.govDear Alex: the above URL tells about the NY Educational authority, the Regents
The English Regents is a test that eleventh graders in New York are required to take in order to graduate. (There are Regents for every subject area, which are taken in different grades.) The English Regents consists of 4 parts. Students write an essay for each part, plus answer some multiple choice questions. Grading them is a severe pain in the ass, as it involves reading hundreds of essays and grading them using a complicated rubric. There are reading passages in three of the parts (one of the three is a listening passage) which is where I found the word "barbarous."
>The English Regents
They have (or at least once had) a similar test in England, generally known as the 11+ Exam.
BTW, this barbaric question reminded me of a quiz question I was asked a week or two ago:
Kaiser Friedrich I was otherwise known as?
(all participants will, fairly, receive sod all)
Eating with your fingers is barbarous, eating other people is barbaric. 'Television' and 'speedometer' are barbarous words.
'Barbarous' has the sense of uncouth, foreign, or uncivilized.
'Barbaric' has the sense of cruel, horrifying, or "mediaeval".
And perhaps most germane to language interests overall: the Greeks made the original word based on the 'bah'bah' sounds of forigners™ that were meaningless to their ears. Barbarians were all those not blesséd with the Greek tongue!
Faldage, citing authority claims
barbaric doesn't seem to carry the connotation of cruelty that barbarous does.
NicholasW, citing perhaps common sense, claims
'Barbarous' has the sense of uncouth, foreign, or uncivilized.
'Barbaric' has the sense of cruel, horrifying, or "mediaeval".
Now that you are suitably edified, welcome to the club. We are, AnnaS should forgive me for saying, anything you like except unanimous.
I was going to mention (can't think why I didn't) that I found it odd someone felt the nuances were reversed. I think my usage (one of the rare extremely instances where I remember being taught a distinction) accords with what I see and hear around me: 'barbaric torture' sounds right, as does 'a barbarous, unlettered state', which illustrate my connotations.
I would now go to the OED and count and sort the quotations, but the library opposite is shut on Wednesdays.
I was thinking about this last night, and wondered, even thought they have the same root -- from the greek word for foriegner..
i think that barbarous might refer to the pirates of the Barbary coast* (cut throats and not someone you'd want to meet in a dark alley, or all alone at sea) and barbaric-- acting like a foreigner..
it would account for what we all seem to realize is a difference in the meaning of the two words...
*and as to not cast aspersions on the people of barbary-- NY (City) was (and some say, still is) home to many a pirate. Capt. Kidd called it home-- as well as many lesser known pirates. Mostly they stole from the Spanish traders (and the english didn't mind) but eventually, when pick'ins got slim, they raided english ships too. A No-No!