Anal researcher rears her ugly head
Mar. 21st, 2005 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coffeesnob318OK. I broke down and took the commonly misunderstood English words test. First, my results:
Not bad, percentile-wise. I only missed two, and I missed those because I was too stingy with my choice and I picked the choice that I would make, not the one that said it could go either way. I guess women my age are brilliant.
Second, my beef:
The first rule of any good multiple choice test is that one of the choices must be the best answer. You can have multiple choices that are correct, but, if that is the case, you need a choice that says something like, "All of the above" or "either a or b," especially if the results are to be generated by a machine, as machines lack the ability to ponder and say, "Hmmm...ok, I see what you meant." And most of the questions that had multiple answers were like that. There were many questions, though, that, according to the key, can be either one or the other, but "either one or the other" isn't actually a choice listed. That probably accounts for the admitted flaw in the result generation.
Second, the key is not entirely correct. The answer to this one:
36. Boat travel makes me __________.
a. nauseated
b. nauseous
c. Either a or b
d. Neither a nor b
The correct answer is Either a or b.
Points: a=1, b=1, c=2, d=0
Definitions:
nauseated - adj. feeling nausea; affected with nausea
nauseous - adj. causing nausea; affected with nausea
from a strict, proper usage standpoint (which I thought was the point of the test), should be a, not c. Those two words are not traditionally synonyms. As stated on dictionary.com:
Usage Note: Traditional critics have insisted that nauseous is properly used only to mean “causing nausea” and that it is incorrect to use it to mean “affected with nausea,” as in Roller coasters make me nauseous. In this example, nauseated is preferred by 72 percent of the Usage Panel. Curiously, though, 88 percent of the Panelists prefer using nauseating in the sentence The children looked a little green from too many candy apples and nauseating (not nauseous) rides. Since there is a lot of evidence to show that nauseous is widely used to mean “feeling sick,” it appears that people use nauseous mainly in the sense in which it is considered incorrect. In its “correct” sense it is being supplanted by nauseating.
Boat travel does not make me cause nausea; it makes me feel nausea, and to feel nausea is to be nauseated, not nauseous. Admittedly, it is confusing, because "to nauseate" (verb, not adjective - an important distinction that dictionary.com seems to overlook slightly) does mean "to cause nausea." I would be one of those people who would say, "Boat travel is nauseating," because, although technically an adjective, the implication is an action (it has the sense of a verb), whereas "nauseous" is purely sensous, not active (e.g., a nauseous odor or a nauseous sight).
*sighs* That these two words are becoming interchangeable (Oxford even gives both definitions for nauseous, much to my chagrin) is yet another sign that our language is not evolving but deteriorating.
OK. I'm finished. :)
| Advanced You scored 100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 72% Expert! |
| You have an extremely good understanding of beginner, intermediate, and advanced level commonly confused English words, getting at least 75% of each of these three levels' questions correct. This is an exceptional score. Remember, these are commonly confused English words, which means most people don't use them properly. You got an extremely respectable score. Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/. |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid |
Not bad, percentile-wise. I only missed two, and I missed those because I was too stingy with my choice and I picked the choice that I would make, not the one that said it could go either way. I guess women my age are brilliant.
Second, my beef:
The first rule of any good multiple choice test is that one of the choices must be the best answer. You can have multiple choices that are correct, but, if that is the case, you need a choice that says something like, "All of the above" or "either a or b," especially if the results are to be generated by a machine, as machines lack the ability to ponder and say, "Hmmm...ok, I see what you meant." And most of the questions that had multiple answers were like that. There were many questions, though, that, according to the key, can be either one or the other, but "either one or the other" isn't actually a choice listed. That probably accounts for the admitted flaw in the result generation.
Second, the key is not entirely correct. The answer to this one:
36. Boat travel makes me __________.
a. nauseated
b. nauseous
c. Either a or b
d. Neither a nor b
The correct answer is Either a or b.
Points: a=1, b=1, c=2, d=0
Definitions:
nauseated - adj. feeling nausea; affected with nausea
nauseous - adj. causing nausea; affected with nausea
from a strict, proper usage standpoint (which I thought was the point of the test), should be a, not c. Those two words are not traditionally synonyms. As stated on dictionary.com:
Usage Note: Traditional critics have insisted that nauseous is properly used only to mean “causing nausea” and that it is incorrect to use it to mean “affected with nausea,” as in Roller coasters make me nauseous. In this example, nauseated is preferred by 72 percent of the Usage Panel. Curiously, though, 88 percent of the Panelists prefer using nauseating in the sentence The children looked a little green from too many candy apples and nauseating (not nauseous) rides. Since there is a lot of evidence to show that nauseous is widely used to mean “feeling sick,” it appears that people use nauseous mainly in the sense in which it is considered incorrect. In its “correct” sense it is being supplanted by nauseating.
Boat travel does not make me cause nausea; it makes me feel nausea, and to feel nausea is to be nauseated, not nauseous. Admittedly, it is confusing, because "to nauseate" (verb, not adjective - an important distinction that dictionary.com seems to overlook slightly) does mean "to cause nausea." I would be one of those people who would say, "Boat travel is nauseating," because, although technically an adjective, the implication is an action (it has the sense of a verb), whereas "nauseous" is purely sensous, not active (e.g., a nauseous odor or a nauseous sight).
*sighs* That these two words are becoming interchangeable (Oxford even gives both definitions for nauseous, much to my chagrin) is yet another sign that our language is not evolving but deteriorating.
OK. I'm finished. :)
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no subject
Date: 2005-03-22 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-23 03:13 am (UTC)*hugs*
no subject
Date: 2005-03-23 06:07 am (UTC)come on, you and sarah are in a tie for big word usage!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-23 06:34 pm (UTC)Oh, it's not just you who is chagrined. So many things are considered "acceptable" now that bug the shit out of me that it's not even funny.
And yes, I'm guilty of sloppy writing here in LJ.
But any formal writing I do - WAY different. Grrr...
Forgive me, I've been helping a friend grade some high school papers. Oy. It made my head ache.
But was I nauseous or nauseated? Ah yes - NAUSEATED.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-24 03:29 am (UTC)The one that bugs me the most is that it is "acceptable" to use the plural pronoun when you don't know the biological sex of the person to whom you are referring (e.g., "The average student is worried about their grades"). ARGH! My head reels. That sentence doesn't even make logical sense. Prounouns must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. And we wonder why it's so difficult for USA students to learn other languages. They don't have a strong enough grammar basis to really understand their own language, much less another.
Grr...makes me want to disassemble this handbasket and get out of education altogether.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-25 05:43 pm (UTC)But I digress. Times do change, and if we must make sure to use both genders of pronouns, so be it. We can be sensitive to these things without being COMPLETELY WRONG. Alternate the pronouns. Use "his or her". Or rewrite the sentence so that pronoun isn't necessary. "The average student is worried about grades". "Grades are a concern for the average student"
But for GOD'S SAKE, PEOPLE, don't say "The average student is worried about THEIR grades". ARGH!
*grammar-ranty*
OK, now let's talk about ending a sentence with a preposition, dangling participles (GRRRRR), and the word "irregardless".