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> Honest question, what's the difference between 'appear' and 'apparently' to you? They have similar etymologies, but their current meanings are diverging. An
by lutusp 13y ago
> Honest question, what's the difference between 'appear' and 'apparently' to you?
They have similar etymologies, but their current meanings are diverging. An apparent difference may not be visual -- at least, not to the degree that an examination of the word's history would lead one to believe. An appearance of difference still is primarily visual.
And yes -- this is to some degree splitting hairs.
- Dylan16807 13y agoInteresting. I don't focus on visuals at all when I say 'appear'. Well, certainly not more than with 'apparent' or other similar words.
- lutusp 13y agoYou know, this might just be my personal reading of these words. When I hear "apparent" I don't necessarily think of its connection with the visual, I think "evident", in spite of the etymological connection with the visual Latin root. But to me, "appear" cries out for a visual interpretation, much more so than for "apparent". Again, I think this may be splitting hairs -- I might be making too much of this. "Apparent" in a thesaurus: http://thesaurus.com/browse/apparent http://thesaurus.com/browse/apparent "appear" in a thesaurus: http://thesaurus.com/browse/appear http://thesaurus.com/browse/appear Quite a difference.