5 ms·

Is it just me or is the phrase "human beings" used more often than simply "humans"? I've just started to notice this: the next word after "human" is very often

Is it just me or is the phrase "human beings" used more often than simply "humans"? I've just started to notice this: the next word after "human" is very often "beings". Whenever someone wants to emphasize our humanity (as opposed, say, to a horse's horseness), they almost always say "human _beings_" instead of "humans". Somehow "human beings" seems to emphasize the "human spirit/soul".

Jakob 9mo ago
Yes. There are lots around; whenever the original word becomes too short for the importance people want to give it. Tuna fish, chai tea, Enter the room -> enter “into” the room, French: hui (today) -> aujourd’hui (day of today) Keyword: pleonasm
- School-Cotton 9mo ago
  I'm sure I've even heard French people say "au jour d'aujourd'hui"
  - teapot7 9mo ago
    I'm pretty sure I've seen that one in a list, by a French person, of things they wish other people wouldn't say!
  - simgt 9mo ago
    Yes, we had an epidemic of that about 10 years ago. It was everywhere. Thankfully it's mostly gone now and we're back to "aujourd'hui".
- Hnrobert42 9mo ago
  Lived experience
- xigoi 9mo ago
  Also French: je ne sais (I don’t know) → je ne sais pas (I don’t know a step)
  - Jakob 9mo ago
    And recently even dropping the negation itself while keeping the meaning: “je sais pas” I never thought about that. Interesting. This negation related cycle is apparently called Jespersen’s cycle and happens in many languages. The English equivalent I say not -> I “do” not say -> I don’t say. -> ? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jespersen%27s_cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jespersen%27s_cycle