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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Pathetic
Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph? (The narrator of the story is a 13 years old girl, in the late 1990's.)
I watched three talk shows on television. One was about teenagers whose mothers flirt with their boyfriends. They were pathetic. Another was about men who said they lost their jobs because they refused to cut off their ponytail. They were pathetic. The third was about people who pierce weird body parts: One girl had a silver nail run through her bellybutton, and another one had a diamond stud put in her tongue. One exposed her bellybutton, and the other stuck out her tongue. They were disgusting.
1. I guess "their " of "their boyfriends" refers to teenagers. So,consequently, the teenagers are female. I think, however, it is also possible that teenagers include both girls and boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends. Do you think you can use the word "flirt" in that case?
2.The word pathetic seems to me to be used when the situation isserious. In the quote, however, the word sounds somewhat funny to me, although I do not know why. Will you tell which of the following definitions "pathetic" here come under?
I watched three talk shows on television. One was about teenagers whose mothers flirt with their boyfriends. They were pathetic. Another was about men who said they lost their jobs because they refused to cut off their ponytail. They were pathetic. The third was about people who pierce weird body parts: One girl had a silver nail run through her bellybutton, and another one had a diamond stud put in her tongue. One exposed her bellybutton, and the other stuck out her tongue. They were disgusting.
1. I guess "their " of "their boyfriends" refers to teenagers. So,consequently, the teenagers are female. I think, however, it is also possible that teenagers include both girls and boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends. Do you think you can use the word "flirt" in that case?
2.The word pathetic seems to me to be used when the situation isserious. In the quote, however, the word sounds somewhat funny to me, although I do not know why. Will you tell which of the following definitions "pathetic" here come under?
Top answer
K typed thus: [nq:1]Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph? (The narrator of the story is a 13 years ... boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends.
- K typed thus: [nq:1]Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph?
- (The narrator of the story is a 13 years ...
- boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends.
- [/nq] Certainly you can flirt with your own boyfriend, but that's not relevant here.
- The mothers have daughters.
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31 Answers
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K typed thus:
[nq:1]Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph? (The narrator of the story is a 13 years ... boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends. Do you think you can use the word "flirt" in that case?[/nq]
Certainly you can flirt with your own boyfriend, but that's not relevant here.
The mothers have daughters. The daughters have boyfriends. The m
[nq:1]Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph? (The narrator of the story is a 13 years ... boys, so mothers flirt with their own boyfriends. Do you think you can use the word "flirt" in that case?[/nq]
Certainly you can flirt with your own boyfriend, but that's not relevant here.
The mothers have daughters. The daughters have boyfriends. The m
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[nq:1]Will you help me clarify my confusion about the following paragraph? (The narrator of the story is a 13 years ... to me, although I do not know why. Will you tell which of the following definitions "pathetic" here come under?[/nq]
[nq:2]1. moving one to pity; touching, heart-rending, poignant or pitiful herpathetic sobs. 2. derogatory, colloquial hopelessly inadequate a pathetic attempt.
[nq:2]1. moving one to pity; touching, heart-rending, poignant or pitiful herpathetic sobs. 2. derogatory, colloquial hopelessly inadequate a pathetic attempt.
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[nq:1]2.The word pathetic seems to me to be used when the situation is serious. In the quote, however, the word sounds somewhat funny to me, although I do not know why. Will you tell which of the following definitions "pathetic" here come under?[/nq]
[nq:2]1. moving one to pity; touching, heart-rending, poignant or pitiful her pathetic sobs. 2. derogatory, colloquial hopelessly inadequate a pa
[nq:2]1. moving one to pity; touching, heart-rending, poignant or pitiful her pathetic sobs. 2. derogatory, colloquial hopelessly inadequate a pa
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Steve Hayes filted:
[nq:1]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r
[nq:1]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r
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[nq:1]Steve Hayes filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
[nq:1]Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
What about "loser" (or "looser")?
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
[nq:2]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
[nq:1]Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
What about "loser" (or "looser")?
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
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[nq:2]Steve Hayes filted: Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
[nq:1]What about "loser" (or "looser")?[/nq]
Or perhaps "luser"?
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
[nq:1]What about "loser" (or "looser")?[/nq]
Or perhaps "luser"?
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
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[nq:1]Steve Hayes filted:[/nq]
[nq:2]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
[nq:1]Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if there are kids who don't realize the connectio
[nq:2]At least that's what it meant when I was a teenager. It means something that calls for pity, but doesn't evoke any.[/nq]
[nq:1]Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if there are kids who don't realize the connectio
00
[nq:2]Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
[nq:1]Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if there are kids who don't realize the connection with homosexuality.[/nq]
Have you met Young Joey?
[nq:1]Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if there are kids who don't realize the connection with homosexuality.[/nq]
Have you met Young Joey?
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[nq:2]Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate. I wouldn't be surprised if there are kids who don't realize the connection with homosexuality.[/nq]
[nq:1]Have you met Young Joey?[/nq]
Apparently not.
-=Eric
Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare. Blair Houghton.
[nq:1]Have you met Young Joey?[/nq]
Apparently not.
-=Eric
Come to think of it, there are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare. Blair Houghton.
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[nq:2]Steve Hayes filted: Later the word was supplanted by "lame", then "bogus"...the current teenspeak term seems to be "gay"..r[/nq]
[nq:1]Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate.[/nq]
Now that's news to me. We discussed this "gay = bad" meaning pretty thoroughly a few months ago, and no one mentioned an alternative spelling. But you're right, "ghey" is all over the Web.
It rem
[nq:1]Spelled "ghey", to be perfectly accurate.[/nq]
Now that's news to me. We discussed this "gay = bad" meaning pretty thoroughly a few months ago, and no one mentioned an alternative spelling. But you're right, "ghey" is all over the Web.
It rem
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