7 ms·
I know what these words mean. Air is humid and sponges are damp, but in either case it means "slightly wet" and there is very little chance of confusion. There
by zyx321 8y ago
I know what these words mean. Air is humid and sponges are damp, but in either case it means "slightly wet" and there is very little chance of confusion.
There are valid reasons to have more words, such as English's seven distinct words for horse as opposed to German's five (depending on sex and age of the animal in question). Those words do make a useful distinction that experts care about, but there are so many English words where the extra information they convey is completely redundant.
- Baeocystin 8y agoI feel the same way about the 16+ ways to say 'the' in German. (And before you retort with 'but those are grammatically important!' Let me say yes, I agree, they are, and because you live within the language, you implicitly understand why. Let's just say that as an English speaker, I feel the same way about English's tendency to have a million synonyms for everything. Each one has its own, distinct flavor, and such aggressive vocabulary theft* is a fundamental part of English's charm.) * “The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” ― James D. Nicoll