Sometimes you have trouble remembering the correct usage of two similar sounding words, using a mnemonic device can make it easier for you. In other cases, the history of words can help us distinguish between them. That is the case with special And fake.
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‘Specious’ denotes superficial or deceptive attraction. However, the reason we are using this image of a dog to illustrate the usage question is that it is completely ‘fake’. That is to say, illegal.
These words have some obvious similarities: they start with sp and ends with iousand each one of them contains “deception” or “deception” in its definition. However, they are by no means synonymous.
special began in English with a meaning much different from what it means today. The first meaning of the word is “to present a pleasant appearance” or “to please in form or appearance.”
That means he has a more distinctive and elf form than all chylderin men.—Anon., Gesta Romanorum1510
The word quickly took on additional meanings, and began to be used to mean not only “beautiful in appearance” but also “colorful”.
Cover all of these with Glass; where the Rejoice, where Pearls, Gems, Precious Flowers, Colored Birds of Divers are located.—Giambattista della Porta, natural magic1658
After the widespread use of the word “colorful”, special also began to be used to refer to superficial attraction or deception. This meaning is applied to both material things, such as beauty, and immaterial subjects, such as reasoning or reasoning.
For, Job purged himself of this, as an evil to which he was strongly inclined, if grace had not restrained him, as it was often done in the surrounding Nations, and that the splendor of these Bright Stars, the light and influence that emanate from them, are good reasons to plead for their religious respect.—George Hutcheson, Presenting the Book of Job1669
While special went from feeling quite comfortable to feeling very uncomfortable, fake almost always has an unfortunate connotation (at least in English). It comes from Latin heel, which at some point in ancient Rome meant “born out of wedlock” and was even used as a name for people who fit this description (by which we mean that it was used). used as names for people who would otherwise be called “Assholes”). When fake used in our language, it is used to mean illegal both in the sense of “born of unmarried parents” and in the sense of “abnormal”.
….that means a wretched bastard or violator bearing the name of his hometown, estemynge exiled a small matter, and lyke a snob who is putting his pleasure in the foul the most lustful and erotic of the body, and your vile pleasures, his industrial yeldinge for lust….—Edward Walshe, Office and Mission in Fightyng for Our Nation1545
So suppose both special And fake commonly used nowadays to describe things that appear to be deceiving or misleading, what is the difference between them? Although we can use either word to modify argumentsOne fake argument will be based on a variety of unwarranted reasons, and a speculative argument would be something that looks appealing but less sensible than it originally appeared. Both types of arguments should be avoided. And of course, a debate about the correct usage of a word can never happen either.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
