Stuff with vs fill with

Question

Why did the author (Advanced Language Practice by Miachael Vince suggest "stuffing" as the only correct option in the sentence below.
"On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by sensationlising the news and stuffing our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest".
There are four options available: filling, stuffing, loading and packing. Many thanks

Avangi · Accepted Answer

You can stuff a turkey half full of stuffing, but I don't think you can fill a pie half full of filling.

It's a question of how the terms are commonly used.

We can say the glass is half full/empty, but the result of filling/emptying the glass is (should be) complete.

I can't be sure what's in Vince's mind. If it weren't a grey area, you probably wouldn't be asking the question. Not all the experts agree on all the usages.

On the other hand, if the speaker's point is the "fullness" of the room, I don't see why he can't say "filling."

(Packing and loading have other implications, right?)

filling/stuffing our hearts with grief

Griddler · Answer

To stuff something implies to fill it to the point of bursting. You can say (although as my mother always said it was not polite) after eating a large meal "I'm stuffed!" - basically meaning "I am about to explode!" or filled to bursting point.

Stuffing in the context of the sentence that you gave as an example implies that war, famine and political unrest were forced into living rooms, stuffed in - too much war and famine - to the point where all this bad news was becoming overwhelming - like with the food analogy, filled to bursting point.

Filled however, suggests that a container or in this case living room, is filled only to the point where you cannot get anything more in, but it is not over-flowing, it's not about to burst out. If you have a litre bottle and fill it, you fill it with a litre of water. It does not suggest any kind of imbalance like the word stuffed would.

Loaded implies more that someone or a vehicle is bearing a heavy weight. He was loaded down with worries; we loaded the crates onto the truck. Since the living room was stuffed full with undesireable bad news, loading makes no sense in this context.

Packing likewise would not work. Packed full usually denotes packed full with people, or...it was packed from floor to ceiling with boxes. To use packed in the context of the sentence would imply that yes, the living room was full with bad news, but that it was somehow catagorised and packed away neatly, whereas the author wanted to get the idea across that all the bad news was overwhelming.

Avangi · Answer

"On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by sensationlising the news and stuffing our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest".

Hi, griddler, I enjoyed your post.
I'd say you took the opposite position from mine re "stuffed" vs. "filled," and defended it well.

All four of these terms are involved in our everyday lives, and (I think) have shades of meaning, varying with context.

Actually, I've never heard "stuffed" used as it is in the OP's example sentence.

I heartily agree that in many contexts "stuffed" means "overstuffed," making the latter a bit of overkill.

Of course both the act of filling and the act of stuffing are carried on while the container is unfilled and unstuffed. I take the sample sentence as having more to do with the process than with the result. Maybe you're on the other side.

I think your point that stuffing is filling beyond full is a good one. I probably would not say, "Here, stuff this into your duffle bag," unless I believed it to be already full.
On the other hand, when we begin stuffing a turkey, the cavity is empty.

Anyway, it's a strange sentence!

Rgdz, - A.

Griddler · Answer

Hi A,

yes I have not heard stuffed either in the context of the OP's original sentence. Good point regarding the act of stuffing or filling. I guess for me, rather than the turkey I think of soft toys, stuffed with filling, and I guess always imagine that there is always as much stuffing stuffed in as possible, to give them that cuddly feeling.

In any case, "On the other hand, did it increase anxiety by sensationlising the news and stuffing our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest" as a sentence, and as you mentioned, is strange. I would use the word blast - because TV's blast out sounds, but also because it is associated with explosions and would suggest an unwanted explosion of war and famine into our living rooms.

edit* I don't know how I managed to have white behind half the text, there is no great meaning behind it!

Avangi · Answer

griddlerI don't know how I managed to have white behind half the text, there is no great meaning behind it!

Been there; done that.

There's no way out of it. I've seen selections of background colors which include "neutral," but EF doesn't have that feature.
Nor do we have background colors which match the TWO shades of blue which alternate in the threads. We just have to settle for white, or CSO (cheerfully start over).

Best wishes, - A.

Stuff with vs fill with

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