2 ms·
A couple of things: 1. You are not interpreting the use of the modifier 'pretty' correctly. It is used for emphasis or to add or increase some property; to imp
by toasterlovin 7y ago
A couple of things:
1. You are not interpreting the use of the modifier 'pretty' correctly. It is used for emphasis or to add or increase some property; to imply that something is more than usual. To say that 'it is pretty hot today' means that it hotter than if you merely said 'it is hot today'. Thus, when I say 'pretty modern', I am indicating a degree of modernity that is more modern than simply 'modern'. As far as I can tell, you are interpreting 'pretty' to mean that something is lacking in a quality or falls slightly short of possessing a quality. But that is the opposite meaning of the word. If I were trying to detract from their modernity, I would have said that they are 'kind of modern' or 'somewhat modern'.
2. The bigger picture, though, is that you're focusing on a single word choice instead of literally everything else I've written, including the crucial point that I have to agree with you for the point that I was actually making to hold true.
- foldr 7y agoThat is not what 'pretty' means, FYI (check the dictionary definition, which in the case of the OED gives "somewhat" as a synonym). It's sometimes used to convey a stronger proposition via understatement, but that doesn't come across in your original post. Nor does it jibe with the rest of what you said (e.g. that the Khoi San are "more or less" the same as the rest of humanity). I'm glad we agree on the rest.