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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 20
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 20 |
Hi everyone,thanks for helping me in these few days!!!
Well..I remember that my English teacher pointed out a misteken from my composition: "Such bill wouldn't be greeted with applause as it's foreseeably devastating to the populace"
my teacher said devastating should be used to describe some physical or body detriment.In other words,this word is specifically for ones' body sufferings.However,i've ever seen this word written in the newspaper which was descirbing public affair like policies and etc
U guys are so kind !! Thanks for always eliminating my burden.I think i'm really a problematic bloke !
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Ok, sue, you're asking for help with English, so I'm going to give you a little more than you asked for, if you don't mind. Well..I remember that my English teacher pointed out a misteken from my composition: "Such bill wouldn't be greeted with applause as it's foreseeably devastating to the populace"
my teacher said devastating should be used to describe some physical or body detriment
should be
Well..I remember that my English teacher pointed out a mistake from my composition: "Such a bill wouldn't be greeted with applause as it's foreseeably devastating to the populace"
my teacher said devastating should be used to describe some physical or bodily detriment
Mistake is the noun; mistaken is the adjective (I hope). He made a mistake. He was mistaken. Body is the noun. Bodily is the adverb.
Devastate can be used for many things. 'Her face was devastated by the flying glass shards.' 'She (meaning her emotions) was devastated by the injury.' 'The congregation was devastated by the loss of their beloved pastor'. 'The earthquake devastated the former beauty of the mountain.'
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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Basically I would say "devastate" only when "a weapon of mass destruction" or its equivalent
has been used. The "vast" in the word means the destuction is of great magnitude. If used
for smaller things, it may seem an exaggeration.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I think, Dr Bill's definition is a little older. Jackie's description of the usage is the way we would commonly do it these days. It's common for people to say, "I was devastated" when they hear very bad news. Harmful is more general. Detrimental suggests something that is likely to have bad effects. Common usage would be something like, "Smoking is detrimental to your health". Destructive would imply that there was some wide spread destruction as a result of the thing that is being described as destructive.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
And lots of people shoot sparrows with cannons.Hyperbole is rampant
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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lots of people shoot sparrows with cannons
Not near as many as would be devastated if they saw someone doing it. I'm just saying the way people use the word, not some ivory tower idea of how the word would be used if there were no such thing as imagination.
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Joined: Jun 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Sue-dee. Here's a big secret we aren't supposed to tell:
Teachers don't know everything and sometimes what they think they know is wrong or not remembered correctly. A good teacher doesn't mind being challenged if you present a strong argument and can back it up (prove it). A bad teacher will give you grief for not kowtowing. You make the call.
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