Words in Flux (2015)
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Words in Flux (2015)
Today we’ll discuss two words whose meanings in casual conversation may vary significantly from their traditional meanings in formal writing.
Despise Not so long ago, despise was more than just another word for detest. “Syme despised him and slightly disliked him,” wrote George Orwell in his 1949 novel 1984. Orwell knew that, strictly speaking, despise means “to look down on” but not necessarily “to dislike” (although that’s usually part of the deal).
“Let no one despise your youth” reads a line in the Bible (1 Timothy 4:12). Note that “despise your youth” does not mean “hate you for being young.” The passage means, “Don’t let anyone disrespect or disregard you for being young.” Disdain is not the same as downright hostility.
Affinity Some seven hundred years ago, affinity meant “relation by marriage.” By extension, the proper use of affinity involves mutuality. But that sense of mutual attraction is often absent in contemporary uses of affinity. An online search reveals many examples such as these: “She always had an affinity for growing fruit.” “I have an affinity for vintage chairs.” “My friend has an affinity for making things out of cardboard.” In these examples, “growing fruit,” “vintage chairs,” and “making things out of cardboard” are passive elements, not active components in a relationship. Better to say “a talent for growing fruit,” “a fondness for vintage chairs,” “a flair for making things out of cardboard.”
In the examples above, affinity is followed by the preposition for. But in formal English, the phrase affinity for is despised. The editor Theodore M. Bernstein advised writers to “discard for” and instead “use between, with, or sometimes to.”
Here are three sentences that use affinity correctly: “There is an affinity between the Irish and the Italians that can be hard to explain.” “Some people have a natural affinity with children.” “Two vaccines containing native proteins with affinity to porcine transferrin were tested.”
There is no affinity unless it is shared by both parties.
Pop Quiz
Are these sentences all right? Do any need fixing? Suggested answers are below.
1. She has some affinity for math.
2. This is a politician with an affinity for making headlines.
3. I knew she always despised me, but I didn’t realize she detested me.
Pop Quiz Answers
1. She has some talent for math.
2. This is a politician with a gift for making headlines.
3. I knew she always despised me, but I didn’t realize she detested me. CORRECT
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Hi,
1) Is there a difference between the nouns “hate” and “hatred”? Sometimes, people use the word “hate” as a noun and I’m wondering if it differs from “hatred”.
2) Also, what’s the difference between “invitation” and “invite” when the word “invite” is used as a noun?
3)I sometimes get confused by the way people use some verbs in sentences as in:
“I heard him singing.”
“I heard him sing.”
What’s the difference between the above two sentences?
Thank you.
When used as a noun, hate and hatred have virtually the same meaning. The word hate can also be used as a verb or a modifier.
When used as a noun, the word invite is an informal version of the word invitation.
The word singing is a gerund. Gerunds, also called verbal nouns, are formed when verbs have -ing added to them and are used as nouns. More information about gerunds can be found in our post What Is a Gerund and Why Care?