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Bear in mind some countries still use those 'obsolete' definitions ;) Maybe it's a US/UK thing.
by axod 18y ago
Bear in mind some countries still use those 'obsolete' definitions ;) Maybe it's a US/UK thing.
- swombat 18y agoThat's a very good point. Might be a US/UK thing. I definitely tend to use "hapless" as "unlucky"... "hapless souls" != "helpless souls".
- xenophanes 18y agoI'm from the US, and thought hapless meant, roughly, wandering about with no clear purpose, and consequently not achieving a good outcome. I find the dictionary definition very surprising.
- pg 18y agoI am a US/UK thing, so I feel like I'm in touch with how it's used in both places. Especially since it's mainly used in writing rather than speech.
- axod 18y ago>> "Hapless means bad stuff is happening to you." Fair enough, although I've never heard it used without meaning unlucky/cursed/doomed. In all the places I've seen it used it references some unlucky downtrodden person who has bad luck through no real fault of their own. I can't quite remember, but I'm sure it's used in quite a few cartoons.