Why is "utterly" found more with negative words than with positive ones?
utterly
It isn't perhaps it is a coincidence.
Utterly Butterly
Utterly divine
I have heard used, and are not negative. Utterly of itself is not negative and is used as an intensifier.
Utterly Butterly
Utterly divine
I have heard used, and are not negative. Utterly of itself is not negative and is used as an intensifier.
I don't think there's really any reason... it's just one of those things. People see utter/utterly used more often with negative adjectives, so they tend to use it that way themselves, which reinforces the association with negativity.
There are some particularly common examples with negative words: "utter chaos" and "utter ruins" leap to mind most readily. It could be that these phrases became common first, and then their commonality associated the word "utter" with negativity. Or possibly not.
It could also just be the sound of the word. It's not one of the harshest-sounding words in the language, but it's not particularly euphonic, either, especially in rhotic dialects (like most American English) with the terminal "r". There's something about the "ur" sound that is a just little rough... sounds like something a caveman might say. The schwa at the beginning doesn't really help there, either.
Of course, all this is just conjecture on my part... but I think there's something to the sound theory. A lot of words with a "ur" sound in them have some kind of negative association with them: burp, usurp, twerp, turd, nerd, slur, hurt, dirt, jerk, lurk, lurch, murky, stern.
Some are more neutral, like herd, urge, surge, quirk, discern, concur, circle, circa... but I can't really think of many positive words that have the "ur" sound, other than "purr", "flirt".
Finally, "turkey" is just comical rather than positive or negative. :)
But all of those sounds have "ur" in a stressed position (indeed, most of them are monosyllables), whereas "utter" has it in an unstressed position, where it doesn't have as strong as an effect. Still, it probably counts for something.
When you think about it, words ultimately had to come from somewhere, but you only have sounds to work with, so it wouldn't surprise me that the sound of a word can have a greater effect on its meaning -- or the meaning of a word can have an effect on its sound -- than might be first apparent.
- Kef
There are some particularly common examples with negative words: "utter chaos" and "utter ruins" leap to mind most readily. It could be that these phrases became common first, and then their commonality associated the word "utter" with negativity. Or possibly not.
It could also just be the sound of the word. It's not one of the harshest-sounding words in the language, but it's not particularly euphonic, either, especially in rhotic dialects (like most American English) with the terminal "r". There's something about the "ur" sound that is a just little rough... sounds like something a caveman might say. The schwa at the beginning doesn't really help there, either.
Of course, all this is just conjecture on my part... but I think there's something to the sound theory. A lot of words with a "ur" sound in them have some kind of negative association with them: burp, usurp, twerp, turd, nerd, slur, hurt, dirt, jerk, lurk, lurch, murky, stern.
Some are more neutral, like herd, urge, surge, quirk, discern, concur, circle, circa... but I can't really think of many positive words that have the "ur" sound, other than "purr", "flirt".
Finally, "turkey" is just comical rather than positive or negative. :)
But all of those sounds have "ur" in a stressed position (indeed, most of them are monosyllables), whereas "utter" has it in an unstressed position, where it doesn't have as strong as an effect. Still, it probably counts for something.
When you think about it, words ultimately had to come from somewhere, but you only have sounds to work with, so it wouldn't surprise me that the sound of a word can have a greater effect on its meaning -- or the meaning of a word can have an effect on its sound -- than might be first apparent.
- Kef
<< It isn't perhaps it is a coincidence.
Utterly Butterly
Utterly divine
I have heard used, and are not negative. Utterly of itself is not negative and is used as an intensifier. >>
It can certainly be used with positive words -- "utterly gorgeous", "utterly brilliant", etc. -- but I think Pos is right that it's used with negative words for often. A quick google for "utterly" shows the word utterly used with these words, in order [a couple of duplicates omitted]:
1. boring
2. pointless
3. outrageous (used in a positive sense)
4. horses (name of a website: Utterly Horses)
5. useless
6. geek (name of a website)
7. amok
8. humbled
9. underwhelmed
10. confused
11. monkey (book title)
12. soft (positive sense)
13. failed
14. surreal (vaguely positive)
15. divine
16. groovy
17. yours (business name)
18. grisly
19. quotes (website name)
20. strange (vaguely positive?)
21. sexy
22. human (neutral?)
23. destroying
24. exceptional
25. drunk
26. true (part of title: The Utterly True Adventures of a Pathological Liar... dunno what to make of this one)
27. destructive
28. bizarre (negative)
29. ridiculous (blog title; intended connotation unclear)
30. recipes (website name)
Almost half of these are clearly negative. Six of these were nouns used in names; using "utterly" with a noun generally doesn't occur in speech, so these names are unusual. A few of these are words that are typically negative but in context were used in a positive sense: outrageous, strange. The choice of using "utterly" might have more to do with the adjective itself than how it's being used in context. Anyway, so far we don't have anything statistically conclusive, but it looks to me that so far we have a plurality of negative usages.
- Kef
Utterly Butterly
Utterly divine
I have heard used, and are not negative. Utterly of itself is not negative and is used as an intensifier. >>
It can certainly be used with positive words -- "utterly gorgeous", "utterly brilliant", etc. -- but I think Pos is right that it's used with negative words for often. A quick google for "utterly" shows the word utterly used with these words, in order [a couple of duplicates omitted]:
1. boring
2. pointless
3. outrageous (used in a positive sense)
4. horses (name of a website: Utterly Horses)
5. useless
6. geek (name of a website)
7. amok
8. humbled
9. underwhelmed
10. confused
11. monkey (book title)
12. soft (positive sense)
13. failed
14. surreal (vaguely positive)
15. divine
16. groovy
17. yours (business name)
18. grisly
19. quotes (website name)
20. strange (vaguely positive?)
21. sexy
22. human (neutral?)
23. destroying
24. exceptional
25. drunk
26. true (part of title: The Utterly True Adventures of a Pathological Liar... dunno what to make of this one)
27. destructive
28. bizarre (negative)
29. ridiculous (blog title; intended connotation unclear)
30. recipes (website name)
Almost half of these are clearly negative. Six of these were nouns used in names; using "utterly" with a noun generally doesn't occur in speech, so these names are unusual. A few of these are words that are typically negative but in context were used in a positive sense: outrageous, strange. The choice of using "utterly" might have more to do with the adjective itself than how it's being used in context. Anyway, so far we don't have anything statistically conclusive, but it looks to me that so far we have a plurality of negative usages.
- Kef
<People see utter/utterly used more often with negative adjectives, so they tend to use it that way themselves, which reinforces the association with negativity. >
??? Which came first, the chicken?
??? Which came first, the chicken?
There's no question that it can be used with positive words, kef. That wasn't the question here. We need to figure out why it appears with much more frequency (one of your favourite words) with negative words.
Here are the first 30 hits from the BNC for "utter". I guess a search of "utterly" would result in a similar list:
UTTER CONFUSION 19
UTTER NONSENSE 18
UTTER RUBBISH 12
UTTER SILENCE 12
UTTER CONTEMPT 10
UTTER DESPAIR 9
UTTER CHAOS 8
UTTER STILLNESS 8
UTTER DISBELIEF 7
UTTER AMAZEMENT 7
UTTER CONFIDENCE 6
UTTER FAILURE 5
UTTER DISREGARD 5
UTTER BEWILDERMENT 5
UTTER CONDEMNATION 5
UTTER DESOLATION 5
UTTER CONVICTION 5
UTTER DEVASTATION 5
UTTER DISGRACE 5
UTTER HELPLESSNESS 5
UTTER SIMPLICITY 5
UTTER SURPRISE 5
UTTER WASTE 5
UTTER BOREDOM 4
UTTER HORROR 4
UTTER INCREDULITY 4
UTTER LONELINESS4
UTTER RUIN 4
UTTER FOOL 3
UTTER EXHAUSTION 3
UTTER DISGUST 3
http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/
Here are the first 30 hits from the BNC for "utter". I guess a search of "utterly" would result in a similar list:
UTTER CONFUSION 19
UTTER NONSENSE 18
UTTER RUBBISH 12
UTTER SILENCE 12
UTTER CONTEMPT 10
UTTER DESPAIR 9
UTTER CHAOS 8
UTTER STILLNESS 8
UTTER DISBELIEF 7
UTTER AMAZEMENT 7
UTTER CONFIDENCE 6
UTTER FAILURE 5
UTTER DISREGARD 5
UTTER BEWILDERMENT 5
UTTER CONDEMNATION 5
UTTER DESOLATION 5
UTTER CONVICTION 5
UTTER DEVASTATION 5
UTTER DISGRACE 5
UTTER HELPLESSNESS 5
UTTER SIMPLICITY 5
UTTER SURPRISE 5
UTTER WASTE 5
UTTER BOREDOM 4
UTTER HORROR 4
UTTER INCREDULITY 4
UTTER LONELINESS4
UTTER RUIN 4
UTTER FOOL 3
UTTER EXHAUSTION 3
UTTER DISGUST 3
http://corpus.byu.edu/bnc/
From Time Magaizine corpus:
UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE
UTTERLY DIFFERENT
UTTERLY UNABLE
UTTERLY CONVINCING
UTTERLY DEVOID
UTTERLY FANTASTIC
UTTERLY DEPENDENT
UTTERLY FALSE
UTTERLY RIDICULOUS
UTTERLY INCAPABLE
UTTERLY ABSURD
UTTERLY ORIGINAL
UTTERLY PREDICTABLE
UTTERLY ALIEN
UTTERLY FOREIGN
UTTERLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE
UTTERLY RUTHLESS
UTTERLY USELESS
UTTERLY CHARMING
UTTERLY FUTILE
UTTERLY IGNORANT
UTTERLY INADEQUATE
UTTERLY INDIFFERENT
UTTERLY NEW
UTTERLY UNEXPECTED
UTTERLY UNLIKE
UTTERLY BEWILDERED
UTTERLY DISGUSTED
UTTERLY FASCINATING
UTTERLY FREE
UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE
UTTERLY DIFFERENT
UTTERLY UNABLE
UTTERLY CONVINCING
UTTERLY DEVOID
UTTERLY FANTASTIC
UTTERLY DEPENDENT
UTTERLY FALSE
UTTERLY RIDICULOUS
UTTERLY INCAPABLE
UTTERLY ABSURD
UTTERLY ORIGINAL
UTTERLY PREDICTABLE
UTTERLY ALIEN
UTTERLY FOREIGN
UTTERLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE
UTTERLY RUTHLESS
UTTERLY USELESS
UTTERLY CHARMING
UTTERLY FUTILE
UTTERLY IGNORANT
UTTERLY INADEQUATE
UTTERLY INDIFFERENT
UTTERLY NEW
UTTERLY UNEXPECTED
UTTERLY UNLIKE
UTTERLY BEWILDERED
UTTERLY DISGUSTED
UTTERLY FASCINATING
UTTERLY FREE
Check out articles on "semantic prosody", Pos.
Here are a few more words which are said to have a, mainly, negative semantic prosody:
be bent on
cause
commit
dealings
happen
make off with
peddle
be rife with
set in
symptomatic
Here are a few more words which are said to have a, mainly, negative semantic prosody:
be bent on
cause
commit
dealings
happen
make off with
peddle
be rife with
set in
symptomatic
< A quick google for "utterly" shows the word utterly used with these words, in order [a couple of duplicates omitted]:>
What search term did you use for that?
What search term did you use for that?
<< ??? Which came first, the chicken? >>
Well, if you look at it from an evolutionist's standpoint, the chicken and the chicken egg came about at the same time. It just happened. I think an evolution analogy is appropriate, because words and their usages do "evolve" in a similar fashion.
<< There's no question that it can be used with positive words, kef. That wasn't the question here. >>
I know. My point was that, while it can be used with positive words (which was what Mark was arguing), I think it's still used more with negative words. Your BNC results are much more illuminating than my google hits, of course.
<< Check out articles on "semantic prosody", Pos. >>
Hmm, it seems to me that "semantic prosody" is a compact term for describing the phenomenon I was talking about when I said, "People see utter/utterly used more often with negative adjectives, so they tend to use it that way themselves, which reinforces the association with negativity."
<< What search term did you use for that? >>
Just "utterly".
- Kef
Well, if you look at it from an evolutionist's standpoint, the chicken and the chicken egg came about at the same time. It just happened. I think an evolution analogy is appropriate, because words and their usages do "evolve" in a similar fashion.
<< There's no question that it can be used with positive words, kef. That wasn't the question here. >>
I know. My point was that, while it can be used with positive words (which was what Mark was arguing), I think it's still used more with negative words. Your BNC results are much more illuminating than my google hits, of course.
<< Check out articles on "semantic prosody", Pos. >>
Hmm, it seems to me that "semantic prosody" is a compact term for describing the phenomenon I was talking about when I said, "People see utter/utterly used more often with negative adjectives, so they tend to use it that way themselves, which reinforces the association with negativity."
<< What search term did you use for that? >>
Just "utterly".
- Kef
Yesterday, I saw an utterly beautiful mujer. I was utterly happy to see her! We had utterly enjoyable sexual relations!
Does it sound strange with 'utter' used such?
Does it sound strange with 'utter' used such?
It does to use it that way three times in a row, perhaps, but I don't see anything wrong with the individual sentences.
<but I can't really think of many positive words that have the "ur" sound, other than "purr", "flirt".>
The "ur" sound also comes as "er", don't forget.
church
perch
The "ur" sound also comes as "er", don't forget.
church
perch