عبد الحفيظ جباري
29/01/2008, 01:05 PM
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته،
إلى الواتاويين الأعزاء أقدّم كلمة هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.
Raffish (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['ræ-fish]
Definition: (1) Vulgar in taste, appearance, dissolute in behavior; rakish or (2) dashing, carefree or unconventionally fun-loving; rakish. Both apply to men.
Usage: Both "raffish" and "rakish" exemplify our long-standing indecision as to whether dissolute men are bad or fun. The original connotations of "rake" and "raff" were negative. Now both words are ambiguous, as are their normal adverbs on –ly and nouns on –ness.
Suggested Usage: The usage of this word depends on whether the unconventional is taken to be good or bad. If good, "He has raffish good looks that make him seem dangerous to conventional women." If bad, "His raffish behavior led him to become something of an outcast in his hometown." "Rakish" works the same way: "He was a certified rake in his youth and exploited the remnants of his rakishness among the daring women in town."
Etymology: From raff "ordinary people" or "vulgar person," related to the phrases "the riff and raff" (one and all, every one) and "neither riff nor raff" (nothing at all). Probably borrowed from an old Swedish word meaning "garbage." "Riff-raff" shares the same source, meaning the same as "raff" alone. We see here a show of the Western assumption that what is ordinary is bad; just think of the connotations of "ordinary," "plain," "common," and—ugh!—"mediocre" today.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com
إلى الواتاويين الأعزاء أقدّم كلمة هذا اليوم.
والسلام عليكم.
Raffish (adjective)
Pronunciation: ['ræ-fish]
Definition: (1) Vulgar in taste, appearance, dissolute in behavior; rakish or (2) dashing, carefree or unconventionally fun-loving; rakish. Both apply to men.
Usage: Both "raffish" and "rakish" exemplify our long-standing indecision as to whether dissolute men are bad or fun. The original connotations of "rake" and "raff" were negative. Now both words are ambiguous, as are their normal adverbs on –ly and nouns on –ness.
Suggested Usage: The usage of this word depends on whether the unconventional is taken to be good or bad. If good, "He has raffish good looks that make him seem dangerous to conventional women." If bad, "His raffish behavior led him to become something of an outcast in his hometown." "Rakish" works the same way: "He was a certified rake in his youth and exploited the remnants of his rakishness among the daring women in town."
Etymology: From raff "ordinary people" or "vulgar person," related to the phrases "the riff and raff" (one and all, every one) and "neither riff nor raff" (nothing at all). Probably borrowed from an old Swedish word meaning "garbage." "Riff-raff" shares the same source, meaning the same as "raff" alone. We see here a show of the Western assumption that what is ordinary is bad; just think of the connotations of "ordinary," "plain," "common," and—ugh!—"mediocre" today.
–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com