pseudo-synonyms which are also close in their spellings

Hi everyone,

I would like to start a subject I love which looks similar to other subjects of ours: 'Pourquoi l'anglais est-il si "dense" ?', "Series of neighboring words - false synonyms (ex.Increasing Force/Level)" and probably others that speak about false synonyms.

I'm thinking of something slightly different in English language.
Maybe it exists in German and other languages too.

In English, there are several series of words (usually adjectives but not only) which are close in the meaning and in the spelling, I mean that changing one or a few letters provides another word and gives something slightly different, from another point of view.
The letter which is changed can be at the beginning or in the middle (at the end, it's more frequent cf diminutives).


For example:

- light (léger, fin, modéré but also clair...), slight (petit, léger, faible, superficiel...), tight (étroit, serré wondering if it really belong to the family)
There're other such families but they don't come to my mind at the moment.


I'm persuaded, it was a way to build new words in English: true families here too.
I don't mean words which are true synonyms with a different spelling like night -> nite, through -> thru, light -> lite, etc.


We can compare this with diminutives in Italian or Russian where anyone can build a new word just changing its ending like cara -> carina (in French -et or -ette)... in Russian, they have lots of such suffixes to express kindness, friendship, love, etc.
This ending which changes looks like what is the rule in declinations and conjugations (functions) but applied to adjectives and words.
Do you know that in Basque, they are used to changing the beginning of words to build neighboring ones?


English language has lots of words, lots of synonyms which correspond to long expressions in French: among them there're what I'm looking for.

Thanks for your help!

Oh ! un autre exemple :

- rumble (grommeler)
- grumble (ronchonner)
Je suis sûr qu'il y en a d'autres dans cette famille !


Je suis sûr qu'il y a de nombreuses autres familles de mots sembables dans le domaine de la façon de marcher... comme un canard, comme un poussin, 36 manières de marcher en anglais, que nous n'avons pas en français, autrement que par une expression.

Si des faux synonymes avec des mots complètement différents constituent une plaie pour les étrangers, ces synonymes qui n'ont que quelques lettres de différence sont amusants, faciles et pratiques pour exprimer des points de vue légèrement différents.

Merci pour votre aide !

Re,

J'y pense...

Les adjectifs qualificatifs anglais étant placés devant le nom et la tendance étant forte de raccourcir les mots/expressions longs...
Outre les mots nouveaux construits de longue date que j'évoquais dans mes posts précédents, il y a beaucoup de mots récemment forgés qui sont des abbréviations familières ou argotiques (beaucoup commencent par un "F" ) et j'avais parlé de l'un d'entre eux, je l'ai oublié mais peut-être Muriel s'en souvient-elle.

Facile pour préciser le sens d'un mot que d'en fabriquer un mêlant le début d'un qualificatif et ce mot (surtout avec un mot commençant par une voyelle).

It would be interesting to write them down every time we meet them I can point out "luire"
To glimmer= Luire d'une lueur faible et tremblottante
To gleam= Luire d'une lueur pâle
To glow= Luire d'une lueur rougeoyante
To glisten= Luire comme une surface mouillée
To glint=Luire avec le luisant d'une surface sombre

Good show Muriel! Thanks a lot!

What's that adjective I posted but "refused" to explain till the end? Do you remember?

Do we have such words (your GL... here above) in French do you think?

Howdy,

I've got a couple:
- to glide / glisser (car, skater, boat)
- to slide / glisser, faire glisser, partir en glissage
- to slip / glisser
I realize that I didn't give any difference between the 3 I'm unable to use one or another... does anyone know better?

NB: to slip is close to to slide with their SL in common but the sound of slip is short and it is not close to glide!


I think there might be something regarding the family of glance or to watch as there're oodles of words around.

I might be wrong but for me to slip is more like to slip on a banana skin
to glide is more a bird or on aeroplane and to slide is to move smoothly over something (on a ice rink for instance)

I don't remember your adjective

Muriel,

The 3 mean glisser.
To slip is rather for something thin like to slip a bill (billet de banque aux US) into a slot. Also to slip a joke, a coin, a remark.
To slip one's feet into one's shoes...

MurielB a écrit:I don't remember your adjective

No worries, I'll remember soon!

Now I go back to printing all the leaflets for D Day.

are liable & reliable synonymous?
And what about OUR french anthem LA MARSEILLAISE;I've thought that the lyrics are far too much bloody ! Aren't they? I would like to propose another subjet ! By that time 1792, french nation was in great peril(for Bavarians army was near the frontier. NOWADAYS danger comes from behave of humans against our environnement!
Let’s go children of the earth; the day we’ve to take consciousness of the weakness of the survival of our specie on the planet has arrived? Why our mother has left up alone in the cosmic immensity? Struggling (keep up) for life but, , exhausting the natural resources? Nevertheless as life got any sense such as the words of La Marseillaise? thanks for answers!

Hi Jean-Luc,

> are liable & reliable synonymous?
No, these adjectives are no synonyms.

"Liable" is rarely used by itself.
It's very often in the expression "to be liable to do" or "liable for something" and means "likely to".
Examples:
- it's liable to rain / il risque de pleuvoir ou il se peut qu'il pleuve
- the contract is liable to changes / le contrat peut faire l'objet de modifications ou le contrat est susceptible de changer ou il se peut que le contrat soit modifié, etc.
- to be liable to tax / être passible de l'impôt, être soumis à l'impôt
- to be liable for somebody's debts / répondre des dettes de quelqu'un

"Reliable" comes after "to rely on sb/sth"
= de confiance, fiable, sérieux
Examples:
- he's not very reliable / on ne peut pas trop compter sur lui
- a reliable source of information / une source d'information sûre

> Merci de me faire part des grosses fautes dans mes messages en langue étrangère.

Jean-Luc, you'll find a few remarks or comments below.

Teilhard a écrit:... And what about OUR French anthem LA MARSEILLAISE? I've thought that the lyrics are far too much bloody! Aren't they? I would like to propose another subject! By that time 1792, French nation was in great peril (for Bavarians army was near the frontier. NOWADAYS danger comes from behave of humans against our environnement!

> Bavarians army
Bavarian is an adjective and cannot be a plural.
The Bavarian army

> from behave of humans against our environnement!
To behave is a verb. The corresponding noun is behavior (US / behaviour (UK).
The correct spelling is environment.
I cannot say for sure regarding "against" but I usually use the preposition "towards".
... from the behavior of humans against/towards our environment!

Let’s go children of the earth; the day we’ve to take consciousness of the weakness of the survival of our specie on the planet has arrived? Why our mother has left up alone in the cosmic immensity? Struggling (keep up) for life but, , exhausting the natural resources? Nevertheless as life got any sense such as the words of La Marseillaise? thanks for answers!

> specie
"Specie" is a weird word compared to the French corresponding one.
The singular "specie" is used in English for a financial meaning only, where in French we use the plural (les espèces).
The plural "species" is used in English where French uses the singular (l'espèce).
In the sentence, you have to use species.

> Why our mother has left up alone in the cosmic immensity?
It's a question and you need to put the verb (at least the auxiliary) in the correct place.
I don't know of a phrasal verb "to leave up": don't you mean to leave us?
Why has our mother left us alone in the cosmic immensity?

> keep up
Did you suggest to keep up as a synonym or as an alternative to "to struggle"?
To keep up means to stay at the adequate level...

> Nevertheless as life got any sense such as the words of La Marseillaise?
I don't understand the sentence well unless the "as" is read "has".
Nevertheless has life got any sense such as the words of La Marseillaise?


If an English speaking person could read your words, they would say better but I've got the feeling that your words are strange: they are not the ones I would use so that I'm unable to say whether they are wrong or acceptable.
For example, after the imperative tense "let's go", I'm expecting an exclamation mark and getting a semi-colon.
In the next sentence: "the day we’ve to take consciousness of the weakness of the survival of our species on the planet has arrived?", there's a question mark, however, grammatically, it's not a question, is it?

Hi everyone,

krystynaD a écrit:... Slitting throats and having blood run in the fields...

( https://www.cafe-polyglotte.com/t1018-our-national-anthem#4136 )

Thanks to Krystyna's response which provided me with good couples of false synonyms!

Let's consider to slit & to split:
- don't you think they are close in their spellings?
- don't you think they are close in their meanings?
However, they are not synonyms.
Good example then.

Another couple: slit & slot
- they are indeed very close in their spellings
- they are very close in their meanings
However, they are not synonyms as there're differences between slit and slot.

Hi Gérard,

De rien !

Another one to add to slit and to split ... to slice

Thanks again Krystyna!
Your posts are very appreciated!

I played tennis and I should have thought of "slice"!

Hi Muriel, Krystyna, everyone,

I'm moving 2 posts to the thread "Faux synonymes" as this one is designed for "pseudo-synonyms which are also close in their spellings" and the words we're speaking about are over there.

Hi Gérard, Krystyna, everyone
Grumpy, gruff, grouchy, grumbler.
I hope I won't become one as I grow older

Hi Muriel,

Excellent contribution!

Grump, grumpy, gruff, gruffly, to grouch, grouchy, to grumble, grumbler, we could add
To groan, to growl, to grunt, to groose.

I don't know if they are synonyms but better to have a good pronunciation:

Howdy everyone,

Oh, here're 2 couples of dodgy words that are poorly used.

- definitely
- definitively

- to disturb
- to disrupt

Meanings are rather close but they are not synonyms!! I let you check and search and study... Do you know them? Do you use them properly?

Hi everyone
what about "The fish is flipping and flopping around " I have just heard it watching Merlin the enchanter with my grandchildren.
what about "to flap?"

Hi Muriel, hi everyone,

Thanks for your posts. Enjoy Merlin and wonderful stories with your grand children!
The expression sounds nice

I'll let Krystyna or another EMT respond as I guess the verbs were used mainly for kids as nice sounds.

Yes flip and flop sound similarly but the meaning are opposite and a bit altered.
In my opinion :
- to flip refers to an action in which the subject and the object are different like for a toss or for a pancake.
lancer or faire sauter
- to flop refers to heavy and loose movements downwards: tomber, retomber lourdement, s'effondrer, s'affaler, etc.
As far as I understand, both words are far from the vivacity of a fish.

That reminds me of an expression we used in my job long ago when we had to backup data on tapes. When the volume of data was big, we were using the flip-flop technique (same word in franglais) meaning that we switched to a second tape device to go on immediately (on a second tape) without having to wait for the 1st tape to be rewound.
NB: to flip has got this idea of switching quickly between two states.
To flip also means to get angry, to go mad...
To flop has the same meaning as in French: to fail.
In Am slang, to flop means crécher, dormir

~~ edit
- to flap means claquer, secouer, agiter, s'agiter, s'affoler, voleter, battre des ailes...

Hello Gerard
Thank you very much for your very useful explanations.

You're welcome Muriel but I would like to get Krystyna or Bob's opinion.

Hi Muriel, hi Gérard,

I'm thinking that the flip of flip-flop as applied to a fish might refer to the flippers (nageoire) of the fish ?

And maybe the flop of flip-flop refers to the fact that the fish is just playing around in the water, not really swimming, but just "flopping" about ?

Other meanings for flip-flop ...

* the japanese style rubber shoes that are held to your feet by a vertical wedge between the first and second toe.
In Australia, flip-flops (or thongs as we call them) are almost the national dress !

* to constantly change your mind or opinion on the same subject