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stranger
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stranger
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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My dictionary gives as first meaning for barbarous
1 orig., foreign or alien; in the ancient world, non-Greek, non-Roman, or non Christian.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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In reply to:
NY English Regents
What's that?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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http://www.regents.nysed.govDear Alex: the above URL tells about the NY Educational authority, the Regents
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stranger
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stranger
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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."
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old hand
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old hand
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>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)
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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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".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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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!
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