Rubbish, Rubbishy and Rubbishly

Question

HiWould you say that all of these sentences carry the same meaning? And are equally natural?Don't listen to this rubbish music.Don't listen to this rubbishy music. Don't listen to this rubbishly music.Thanks,Tom

GPY · Accepted Answer

The first two are OK (casual) and mean near enough the same.

"rubbishly" is not really a proper word. It could possibly be used as a made-up adverb in a context such as "that went rubbishly". It does not work in your sentence because an adverb does not fit there.

Mister Micawber · Answer

Again, more likely 'trash' in AmE:

Don't listen to this trash music.
Don't listen to this trashy music.

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks, GPY and MM.

...but the problem is, all my dictionaries and online dictionaries treat rubbishly as an adjective. One of my dictionaries compares its ly with the ly in the adjective miserly.

Could you please check what Merriam-Webster says about this word?

https://www.google.com.pk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=dV8kU9XgNsfX4ASKhoH4DQ#q=rubbishly

Tom

Mister Micawber · Answer

Since I don't use it, I shouldn't comment, but

This word doesn't usually appear in our free dictionary

Probably means that it is a rare form. As does GPY, I find it odd-sounding.

GPY · Answer

Mr. TomThanks, GPY and MM....but the problem is, all my dictionaries and online dictionaries treat rubbishly as an adjective. One of my dictionaries compares its ly with the ly in the adjective miserly.Could you please check what Merriam-Webster says about this word?https://www.google.com.pk/?gws_rd=cr&ei=dV8kU9XgNsfX4ASKhoH4DQ#q=rubbishly Tom

All I can say is that I have never heard of "rubbishly" as an adjective. I barely recognise it as a word at all, but I would assume it to be an adverb. Skimming through Google Book results, most of the relevant adjectival hits seem to be from writings at least 100 years old. I think it could be an old-fashioned form.

Rubbish, Rubbishy and Rubbishly

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