posted
I'm copyediting a family history that includes the line, "Sleep continued to evade the old cowboy." It sounded funny to me, so I changed "evade" to "elude." Then when I was going over my edits, the change didn't sound any better. I went and looked it up and really can't find any substantive difference between the two words.
quote:Avoid always involves an effort to keep away from what is considered to be a source of danger or difficulty: avoiding strenuous exercise. Shun refers to deliberately keeping clear of what is unwelcome or undesirable: “Family friends … she shunned like the plague” (John Galsworthy). Eschew involves staying clear of something because to do otherwise would be unwise or morally wrong: “Eschew evil, and do good” (Book of Common Prayer). Evade implies adroit maneuvering and sometimes implies dishonesty or irresponsibility: tried to evade jury duty. To elude is to get away from artfully: eluded their pursuers.
posted
Evade suggests, to me, the subject taking an active role. Elude can be more of a passive thing. In that sentence, I think elude is the better word.
I got images while thinking of the words. For evade, I have someone darting around to keep someone from finding them while for elude it's somone slipping behind a curtain or something and letting the person just pass on by.
edit: Also, as an adjective, elusive can describe inanimate/abstract concepts, while I think that evasive needs to modify an actor.
Posts: 10177 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks, all -- I think I had a sense that elude was more passive, somehow, and that's why I picked it, but then there were all those definitions like Dag's that define it as artful escaping!
By the way -- you're all REALLY fast!
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
'evade' sounds really really wrong to me, but that could just be my odd internal grammar.
Evade really is a verb whose subject needs to have an agentive role: X evades Y, X being an actor. 'Sleep', as the subject, doesn't really have that agentive meaning to me. It's more of an Experience.
That's my semantic justification. But my gut tells me that you should go with 'elude'
Posts: 484 | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
I can't think of any difference between evade and elude. They seem to mean the exact same thing. And yet elude clearly seems to be the right word to use in this situation. I have no idea how to reconcile these facts...
Posts: 29 | Registered: Mar 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote: I can't think of any difference between evade and elude. They seem to mean the exact same thing. And yet elude clearly seems to be the right word to use in this situation. I have no idea how to reconcile these facts...
posted
Both connote an escape. Elude is definately more correct, though. Of course, I don't think there are really any rules. The only thing I can find is that Elude is normally a transitive verb, while evade is not often used that way.
Posts: 3003 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
The two words are different. They connote two different activities, are differently spelled, and are pronounced differently. Subconciously, you know this, which is why this thread exists to begin with.
When in doubt, go to the latin. Ex, in both words is "out," and vadere bears the sense of "going or advancing," or "ludere" is "tp play." Since you are personifying Sleep, and there is already a sense of fancy in the narrative, that's why elude seems the appropriate choice.
quote:Originally posted by Boris: Both connote an escape. Elude is definately more correct, though. Of course, I don't think there are really any rules. The only thing I can find is that Elude is normally a transitive verb, while evade is not often used that way.
They are both typically transitive verbs. I really don't see why there's such confusion, to be honest. Kristen explained the difference pretty succinctly, though maybe most people don't understand linguistic terms like "agentive."
posted
Sometimes, sleep evades me with vexing dexterity. I have to subdue the little bugger with clubs, nick@nite, and in extreme cases celebrity poker.
Other than that, I'm voting with Jon Boy and the rest.
Posts: 628 | Registered: Nov 1999
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
