This is topic Vocabulary question in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.


To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/writers/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=004234

Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
 
This has been bugging me for a long time. I'll put it in the form of one of those evil analogy questions:

eat : feed :: drink : ?

My sanity is at stake.
 


Posted by mfreivald (Member # 3413) on :
 
eat::feed
drink::soak/saturate/souse/hydrate/quench/slake
drink::water (like water the plants, but use it for a person)

I kept thinking in terms of "feed the baby," which seems to fit best with "water the baby," though it's a bit odd. If it were a hospital patient, "hydrate" works best for me. For intransitive interpretations of "feed," hydrate, quench, and slake seem pretty close.

Hope that helps.


 


Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
 
drink:imbibe
 
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
 
It depends upon what definition you give to the word feed.
 
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
 
As has been pointed out, feed has several possible definitions.
 
Posted by darklight (Member # 5213) on :
 
If you want drink:... to have the same meaning as eat:feed, then I'm not sure there is an answer. Because drink as in water, coffee, beer, means the same as drink as in drink the beer. Drink the drink.

I don't think the suggestion you have are what you are looking for. The closest would be water, as in water the plants.
 


Posted by darklight (Member # 5213) on :
 
I didn't mean drink has the same meaning as drink. I meant its the same word with differnt meanings.
 
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
 
"eat," "feed," and "drink" all seem to be Old English in origin, rather than imported Norman French words. Most of the suggestions, I think, are imports. Is there another non-imported word for "drink"?
 
Posted by Wolfe_boy (Member # 5456) on :
 
Eat : Feed :: Drink : Drink.

This works if what you're looking for is performing the act on yourself is to performing the act on someone else, ie. "I eat food" vs "I feed an apple to Sally". I don't believe there is a single word in relation to drink that carries the same meaning as feed in this context. Besides, if we all need to sit here and cogitate up a word that does carry the same meaning, is that really your best choice? Why not just go with "helped Sally to drink" or "made Sally drink" or "forced Sally to drink".

No one is going to fault you for that, and the word police won't come and haul you away. They might if you come up with some obscure word based on it's linguistic heritage and attempt to use it.

Jayson Merryfield

[This message has been edited by Wolfe_boy (edited September 12, 2007).]
 


Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
 
Somehow, the only thing that comes to mind is:

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

The closest to feed I can come up with is dose, irrigate, or flood. Water and drink have already been used.

[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited September 12, 2007).]
 


Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
 
The closest I can come up with is something in relation to infants such as nurse or suckle.
 
Posted by annepin (Member # 5952) on :
 
Lol! I think this aptly demonstrates the insufficiency of those dang verbal SAT questions!

My take is that you're talking about animals. You feed animals. Feeding is some sort of mass event and has a sort of primordial, instinct-driven feel to it. So I think "water" is the best choice.
 


Posted by Tricia V (Member # 6324) on :
 
The problem isn't you. The problem is the English language. And it's not that we need more words for "drink". It's that we need fewer words for "eat".
 
Posted by MrsBrown (Member # 5195) on :
 
Fewer words? Please no -- I like to keep my options open.
"Love" is an example where English is pitifully insuffient.
 
Posted by J (Member # 2197) on :
 
I like the suggestion of "water." It's appropriate no matter how you define "feed" and "drink."
 
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
 
Feeding and watering the cows. Of course it's not the same if it's not water, I mean you don't milk a baby. I'm sure liquefy and liquidate don't work. You could just go with serve or ask a bartender what verb they use.
 
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
 
While we're at it, can anyone tell me the word for the inside of my elbow?

(PS:Gotta run, have a baby to milk! )

[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited September 13, 2007).]
 


Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
 
quote:


The seven works of mercy are:—
(1) To tend the sick.
(2) To feed the hungry.
(3) To give drink to the thirsty.
(4) To clothe the naked.
(5) To house the homeless.
(6) To visit the fatherless and the afflicted.
(7) To bury the dead.



It seems the 'word' is give drink


PS: Thankyou Bartleby.com

[This message has been edited by hoptoad (edited September 13, 2007).]
 


Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
 
It seems I'm left to bemoan the sorry asymmetry in the English language. (I hope I don't lose sleep over it.) It was fun, though - I figured this would be a bit like tossing tuna into shark-infested waters, and it was...

hoptoad: You're looking for "crook". A crook can be the inside of any bend, though, so you're left with "crook of the elbow".
 


Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
 
hoptoad:

quote:
(PS:Gotta run, have a baby to milk! )

I also bemoan the lack of a laughing smiley. The funniest part is that, for this particular ambiguity, the first reconciliation my brain comes up with is splashing a baby with milk. You know: you milk a baby, and you water the grass...
 


Posted by Tricia V (Member # 6324) on :
 
Even Arabic, which is set up for this stuff, is not completely symmetrical in that respect. That is, not every verb exhausts every measure, and there are sometimes multiple words that mean the same thing - starting with darasa and Talaba.

But it certainly goes further in standing theta grid theory on its head. The idea of theta grid was that semantics is expressed in the relationship of words to other words, like:
die
kill
murder
assasinate

Each involves no longer being alive. But "die" is intransitive, "kill" transitive, "murder" implies intent, and "assasinate" a political agenda. "If you know what crime is being committed, press 1. You have selected... regicide. If you know the name of the monarch being murdered, press 1..."
 


Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
 
quote:

While we're at it, can anyone tell me the word for the inside of my elbow?

quote:

hoptoad: You're looking for "crook". A crook can be the inside of any bend, though, so you're left with "crook of the elbow".

It has also been called the pit of the elbow to the same effect.
 


Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
 
Great. Now every morning I'm going to have to deodorize my elbow pits, too. Do me a favor and don't tell me about any others.
 
Posted by debhoag (Member # 5493) on :
 
Hey, how many Hatrackers does it take to find the right verb?

One to pose a sensitive question about verb usage.

Two to speculate on the origins of the verb, both in English and in any other language with which they, the posters, are familiar.

Three to bemoan the fact that English does not have the correct verb to apply to the situation in question.

One to critique the way in which the person who posed the question posed it.

Two to post URLS that may or may not have any relationship to the topic at hand.

One to post their own distressing verb-related issues.

One to post a personally distressing issue with a noun.

One post from Kathleen, encouraging us to all play nice.

I have to stop now, because if I don't stop laughing, I'm not going to be able to breathe - oh, and that reminds me:

One to post a message that has nothing to do either with the original topic or any other topic posted on this or any other thread, but which instead is a complete nonsequitor, found amusing and of interest solely to the person posting.

and, what about the word "pour". And I hope the baby gets cleaned up.


[This message has been edited by debhoag (edited September 14, 2007).]
 


Posted by trousercuit (Member # 3235) on :
 
I've decided that correcting finite state machines for implementing regular languages defined by English phrases is a pain in the butt.

There you go - the non sequitur.

 




Copyright © 2008 Hatrack River Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.


Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2