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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Vocabulary
Probably certain
Hi,
"Reserve spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher said earlier the park could not say
for certain that the baboon had escaped from its Monkey Jungle because its 150
animals were not regularly counted.
But she said they were "probably certain" it was one of theirs." [BBC web site.]
Can one be probably certain? In my opinion, you are certain or not; you can't be more certain, less certain, the most certain, the least certain or probably certain, can you?
Thank you.
"Reserve spokeswoman Kristin Siebeneicher said earlier the park could not say
for certain that the baboon had escaped from its Monkey Jungle because its 150
animals were not regularly counted.
But she said they were "probably certain" it was one of theirs." [BBC web site.]
Can one be probably certain? In my opinion, you are certain or not; you can't be more certain, less certain, the most certain, the least certain or probably certain, can you?
Thank you.
Top answer
I agree that the phrase is less than felicitous; however, 'fairly certain' is an extremely common collocation (53,000 hits on Google Books), so logic – once again – is trumped by usage.
- I agree that the phrase is less than felicitous; however, 'fairly certain' is an extremely common collocation (53,000 hits on Google Books), so logic – once again – is trumped by usage.
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4 Answers
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I agree that the phrase is less than felicitous; however, 'fairly certain' is an extremely common collocation (53,000 hits on Google Books), so logic – once again – is trumped by usage.
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Mister Micawber:
the question was if we could write or say "probably certain". You answered that we could say "fairly certain". Both phrases are different as "probably" would imply that the speaker is not 100% sure of the chances of occurrence, while "certain" means that the speaker has a strong opinion and no doubt about it.
"fairly" could be used as it is a quantifier as well as "qu
the question was if we could write or say "probably certain". You answered that we could say "fairly certain". Both phrases are different as "probably" would imply that the speaker is not 100% sure of the chances of occurrence, while "certain" means that the speaker has a strong opinion and no doubt about it.
"fairly" could be used as it is a quantifier as well as "qu
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Anonymousthe question was if we could write or say "probably certain". You answered that we could say "fairly certain".No, I did not; I observed what has been used. I did imply that both 'probably' and 'fairly' are gradings, however.
Anonymous "probably certain" as a phrase as only one hit on Google: this post on this forum
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