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Anonymous Posted 21 years ago
Vocabulary
The idiom: "gave no mind to"
I am trying to sort out the two meanings of the idiom "gave no mind to" -- one has a negative sense and the other more neutral:
e.g., "he gave no mind to the wait" - it didn't preoccupy his mind that he had to wait, he didn't feel "put out" by having to wait (neutral)
e.g., (from a poem) "Some there were who listened well, others gave no mind to what you had to tell..." -- they didn't listen well to your words, didn't bother or care to make the effort and the sense is that they would have been wise to do so, because by not doing so, they might do something unwise.
or, someone was on a plane and they asked the passengers to read the instructions in the seat pocket in front of them, and a passenger gave no mind to them at all -- once again, he didn't bother to make the effort and the sense is that he would have been wise to do so. The sense is that he is resisting or doing something more "proactive" that could impact him negatively in some way later.
Are the two different connotations here sorted out correctly: one definitely neutral and one negative because it has the meaning that someone is doing something heedless, or perhaps, ill-advised, by NOT doing something?
Whitisno1
e.g., "he gave no mind to the wait" - it didn't preoccupy his mind that he had to wait, he didn't feel "put out" by having to wait (neutral)
e.g., (from a poem) "Some there were who listened well, others gave no mind to what you had to tell..." -- they didn't listen well to your words, didn't bother or care to make the effort and the sense is that they would have been wise to do so, because by not doing so, they might do something unwise.
or, someone was on a plane and they asked the passengers to read the instructions in the seat pocket in front of them, and a passenger gave no mind to them at all -- once again, he didn't bother to make the effort and the sense is that he would have been wise to do so. The sense is that he is resisting or doing something more "proactive" that could impact him negatively in some way later.
Are the two different connotations here sorted out correctly: one definitely neutral and one negative because it has the meaning that someone is doing something heedless, or perhaps, ill-advised, by NOT doing something?
Whitisno1
Top answer
Anonymous, you've come up with an interesting pair of contrasting interpretations involving the phrase, 'gave no mind'.. However, I believe the phrase means simply 'paid no attention to'. One could certainly say that not paying attention can prove to have negative consequence; it could also prove to have neutral, or even positive, consequences.
- Anonymous, you've come up with an interesting pair of contrasting interpretations involving the phrase, 'gave no mind'..
- However, I believe the phrase means simply 'paid no attention to'.
- One could certainly say that not paying attention can prove to have negative consequence; it could also prove to have neutral, or even positive, consequences.
- Though the verb 'to give' is normally active...
- in this well-known phrase, it usually implies passivity, or what you call 'neutrality'.
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Anonymous, you've come up with an interesting pair of contrasting interpretations involving the phrase, 'gave no mind'.. However, I believe the phrase means simply 'paid no attention to'. One could certainly say that not paying attention can prove to have negative consequence; it could also prove to have neutral, or even positive, consequences. Though the verb 'to give' is normally active... in
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