What is the difference between generic and general?

Question

Kooyeen · Accepted Answer

As a non-native, I would say I perceive no difference between them, generally speaking. I wouldn't know how to explain the difference, because it would only be a matter of "feelings" I get, but without any real difference. Maybe the natives will be able to help.

Belly · Answer

So what is the correct version:
You won't get so much from this book. It's very generic
or
very general?

Clive · Answer

Hi,
This book is very generic. Sounds like it is the same as a lot of other books of this type. Not special or distinctive in any way.

This book is very general. It doesn't give a lot of details.

Best wishes, Clive

Belly · Answer

I found this when looking for information on SAT books:
Grammatix

1. By Grammatix.com, $49.95, 193 pages
2. Best for: Critical reading
3. The essay portion provides a very systematic formula. The grammar section is not as thorough as Rocket Review. A different approach to passage based reading questions than most books, many CCers have had success with this method. The sentence completion sentence is supposed to be very good. The same generic math review provided in every review book.

Anonymous · Answer

They are definitely not the same.

Generic is the adjective of the noun genre, which roughly means category. Generic can therefore mean belonging to the entire category, rather to particular members of the category. Confusingly, a generic solution is one that covers a group of problems, not a group of solutions, usually. This is usually a very good thing. However, if a film or book is described as generic, it is usually implying that it has little originality and is therefore bad. In the usage "generic drug" it merely indicates that the drug is not produced by a leading brand company. This is neither good nor bad as the drug is exactly the same chemical as its branded equivalent.

General can probably be most easily understood as the opposite of specific. It is not the adjective of any noun. General is a much more commonly used word and covers many more situations than generic. General can also cover some uses of generic correctly. It's easy to use the word generic wrongly. So, if you don't know and have to guess, use general rather than generic.

I hope this helps.

Anonymous · Answer

thanks for your kind and knowledgeable tips , according to your tips , in any given context , The word General can mean the same meaning of the word 'generic' , and then how about this passage?

The use of heroine and executrix as referring to a hero or executor who is female illustrates what Douglas Hofstadter calls “the slippery slope” of meaning. In his book Metamagical Themas, Hofstadter shows diagrammatically how the slippery slope works. A triangle represents the idea of, let’s say, a heroic person.At one base angle of this triangle is the word heroine, representing the female heroic person. At the other base angle is the word hero, representing the male heroic person. And at the apex is the generic word, again hero, encompassing both. But because the hero at the apex and the hero at one base angle are identical in name, their separate meanings slip back and forth along one side of the triangle, the slippery slope. The meanings blend and absorb each other. They bond together on the slope. And heroine, at the other base angle, remains outside that bond.

Isn't it possible to replace 'generic ' with 'general ' ? if I exchange them, Can the real meaning also be different or wrong?
thanks for reading here

What is the difference between generic and general?

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