But

Question

Hi. I hope your health is good, that your heart is full, and that your spirits are high.

This question may seem just trivial, but my mind somehow is sticking with it and can't seem to move on without solving it.

----- I just can't understand why the word 'but' is used here. "She could barely afford the house, (what with all the loans she'd taken out for PA school), but loan officers were pretty understanding when it came to making loans to people like her" doesn't sound natural. To my ear it should be more like "She could barely afford the house, (what with all the loans she'd taken out for PA school), as loan officers were ....

This wasn't what she'd dreamed about when she'd first seen the house earlier this year. Even though it wasn't in Morehead City, where her boyfriend, Kevin, lived, it was just minutes across the bridge. It was small and almost half a century old and a definite fixer-upper by Beaufort standards, but the view along the creek was spectacular, the yard was big enough for Molly to run, and best of all, she could afford it. Just barely, what with all the loans she'd taken out for PA school, but loan officers were pretty understanding when it came to making loans to people like her. Professional, educated people.

Hiro

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

HSSShe could barely afford the house, (what with all the loans she'd taken out for PA school), but loan officers were pretty understanding when it came to making loans to people like her

but presents a contrast. Don't forget that barely has negative polarity. This may be the root of the problem for you. Here is the basic contrast:

She could not afford the house,
but
the lenders changed that.

Or,

She could not afford the house,
but
after she talked to the lenders, she could afford it.

More subtle,

She could not comfortably afford the house,
but
she could comfortably afford it once she got a loan from those understanding loan officers.

That is,
She could barely afford the house,
but
the loan officers were understanding, so she got the loan and could then afford the house.
____________

as won't work at all. It says that she could not comfortably afford the house because the loan officers were understanding.

CJ

HSS · Answer

CalifJimDon't forget that barely has negative polarity. This may be the root of the problem for you.

Yes, indeed, CJ. I felt 'barely' here had a 'although-she-was-able-to-buy-it,-she-only-received-very-slightly-over-what-she-needed-in-the-loan' connotation --- thus, positive polarity.

What do you suspect makes 'barely' take on a positive tone, and what a negative tone?

What if the sentence is followed by some positively supporting clause like "because I really worked day in and day out."

I could barely afford the house because I really worked day in and day out.

Hiro

CalifJim · Answer

HSSWhat do you suspect makes 'barely' take on a positive tone, and what a negative tone?

I don't think I ever perceive a positive sense to it.

HSSWhat if the sentence is followed by some positively supporting clause like "because I really worked day in and day out."

I could barely afford the house because I really worked day in and day out.

I can't wrap my head around this one. It makes no sense to me. It sounds like you're trying to say this:

After working day in and day out for some time, I was almost able to afford the house.

CJ

HSS · Answer

CalifJimI don't think I ever perceive a positive sense to it.

Hmmm. I'm a little puzzled by this, CJ. Maybe my understanding on the word has been totally wrong.

Please take a look at these:

[1] I barely passed the FCC exam for the general class ham radio license. No more carmming!

[2] I barely won the tennis match.

When I've read a sentence like them, I've always felt a weak affirmative slant. With [1] I feel the speaker is saying, "I passed the exam however close to the cut-off line. Passing is passing." And with [2] "The match was neck and neck. Even though our scores were close, I won the match!"

Maybe I should change my whole interpretation of the word.

Hiro

CalifJim · Answer

HSSI'm a little puzzled by this, CJ. Maybe my understanding on the word has been totally wrong.

Well, it is puzzling. I doubt you've got it "totally wrong".

HSSWhen I've read a sentence like them, I've always felt a weak affirmative slant.

Yes. Those do have a very weak affirmative polarity. It seems to be a function of verb type. Passing an exam and winning a match are both "achievements". "being able to buy a house" is a state. I suspect that the weak affirmative character of "barely" can only come out with an achievement verb. However, I have not done any heavy thinking on the subject, so I could be wrong. Nevertheless, there must be some conditions which cause the "affirmative effect", even if we can't figure out just now exactly what they are.

HSSMaybe I should change my whole interpretation of the word.

And maybe not. As they say, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

CJ

HSS · Answer

CalifJim"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".

Fortunately my two-and-a-half year old daughter, Erin, likes to play in the tub for an eternity. She's good with the bath and water now. She skillfully grabs on to the tub.

Just to confirm, readers first think, "okay, she was able to buy it," up until they come to "afford it," and then suddenly upon reading "Just barely," they think, "Wait a minute, her budget was not enough." Then as they finish reading this whole paragraph, they conclude "She was able to buy it in the end." Am I right?

This wasn't what she'd dreamed about when she'd first seen the house earlier this year. Even though it wasn't in Morehead City, where her boyfriend, Kevin, lived, it was just minutes across the bridge. It was small and almost half a century old and a definite fixer-upper by Beaufort standards, but the view along the creek was spectacular, the yard was big enough for Molly to run, and best of all, she could afford it. Just barely, what with all the loans she'd taken out for PA school, but loan officers were pretty understanding when it came to making loans to people like her. Professional, educated people.

CalifJim · Answer

HSSJust to confirm, readers first think, "okay, she was able to buy it," up until they come to "afford it," and then suddenly upon reading "Just barely," they think, "Wait a minute, her budget was not enough." Then as they finish reading this whole paragraph, they conclude "She was able to buy it in the end." Am I right?

Almost exactly. When you come to "just barely", you don't conclude that her budget was not enough. You conclude that it was, well, barely enough. (I see what you mean now. It was enough, technically, and I think that's why you're saying that "barely" has a positive sense here.) That is, she could buy the house, but with great difficulty. She would have very little to spare. She would probably be putting herself into the position of having to do without any luxuries for a while.

Then there is information regarding the loans she had taken out. We're supposed to know, as background information, that lenders won't lend more money if they see that you already have a lot of obligations to pay other loans. That argues for the possibility that she would not have been able to obtain another loan through which she could buy the house. BUT -- all was not lost. The lenders were understanding. They felt they could take a chance on her, that she could pay back yet another loan. So, presumably, she got the loan and hence the house.

So perhaps I should revise my original analysis of the semantics here. The BUT contrasts the idea that, given her situation, she probably would not have obtained the loan with the idea that she really did get the loan.

By all rights, the lenders should have denied her application for a loan, BUT they gave her the loan anyway, because they were "understanding".

CJ

CJ

HSS · Answer

Great explanation, CJ. This smoothly seeped in, thanks! The key might have been 'with great difficulty.' This cast light on 'barely' for me, and let me see the flow of thinking more clearly.

You know, CJ, you would respond with "Neither could I" to, for instance, "I could hardly/scarcely/seldom go to Christmas parties." How about this sentence with 'barely': "I could barely afford the house"? Which would be more natural response, CJ? I guess B is, and you would probably continue with something like "I had a hard time paying the loan back."

"I could barely afford the house."
A "Neither could I."
B "So could I."

Again, thanks. I'm seeing the word in much brighter light now.

Hiro

CalifJim · Answer

HSS"I could barely afford the house."
A "Neither could I."
B "So could I."

Oof! This doesn't ring true either way! Both neither and so strike me as odd, though so is the lesser of the two evils. My response would be more like I was in the same situation.

-- I was barely able to pass that exam.
-- The same thing happened to me.

(Possibly Me too. So was I seems a bit strange to me, but possible. Neither was I is impossible.)

CJ

But

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