Merely, purely, simply, solely, only, just... WTF Mere comes from the old French for pure. Not that its used that way today. Don King was always into being a human thesaurus. Apparently thats what he did with his time in jail. Trouble is, it just made him sound even more ridiculous. Hmm.
So? Mere is not the only word that is used differently these days, I am sure. I really don't see your point.
I am learning Chinese, slowly but surely. I am off the alcohol, back in school, and set to graduate next spring. I have switched my major to religious studies, with a focus (as much of a focus as can be had as an undergraduate, at least) on Buddhism. After graduation, I hope to live either in China or somewhere in Southeast Asia for a year to further develop my language skills and then go on to graduate school. Either I'll end up in academia or find some other work related to my field of study. The name is my Chinese name assigned to me by a teacher, it was just an easy choice when thinking up a new username. All things considered, I'm a lot happier these past few years than I have been since I turned ten years old, so even when I have problems I really can't justify too much complaint. What's new with you?
Ah damn, I can't send you a private message. It seems you're doing great. And you look so calm and peaceful! And you're so skinny Seriously though, I am glad things are working out for you, you were always, always, always so lovely. As for me, I have drastically changed the course of my education. It's a good thing. I can't say these are the best of times for me, as I've been quite ill and have health issues, and I don't really function well without taking 4 different medications every day. However, I'm not complaining much, it is what it is, and it's not all that bad! When one door closes, another opens Oh and I have red hair now, that's important to know xD
Well 1stly, in written English I tend to interchange variants of words. In spoken/informal English, virtually never. As mention earlier, there's a lot of it is pandering (often inadvertently) to the Norman/Anglo Saxon division in the English language. Some people think the Norman looks more "educated". This is something I think is unfortunate. Secondly, too much interchanging can hinder effective communication. Either due to the communicator's choice of words, or the recipient's understanding of them. For instance, the formal dictionary meanings often fail to acknowledge the emotion or implicit suggestions attached to a word. Over time words can end up with a meaning very different to their original one. Thats not such a big problem if it occurs over a long time, but it is if it occurs over a short time. (eg the word "sick"). Mere can have particular aspects. For instance I might talk about a person who I understand worked as a Mayor and a shop-owner. The other person might say "oh he merely worked as a shopkeeper". An implicit suggestion might be that being a shop-owner was an inferior pursuit of low value. Its things like this that can cause problems, especially when the old Norman variant is used. So while the Norman might sound educated in some opinions, it can also cause problems/become a minefield IMO. I can remember seeing real life examples of this eg with words like "defer" and "deference".
Yeah, I don't know how it works now, but I'm pretty sure I have to have some high number of posts before I can send and receive private messages. And I have lost a few pounds just from not drinking, but I'm working on getting into good shape, too, so that might have some effect on it. What direction is your education going now? Drastic changes are interesting! I'm really sorry to hear about your health problems. That kind of thing can really be a burden, but if you're able to manage then that's a good start. I wish you all the best! I really hope it's something that you can eventually heal and leave behind. Also, I think having red hair would probably suit you quite well! Anyway, while I can't send private messages on here, and I'm unsure if I'll be on HF long enough to enable that feature, if you want to chat you can drop me a line at mengtianlin1985@hotmail.com
Merely requires an unspoken/spoken comparison. merely a boy--not a man. He weighs a mere 300 pounds. A man---or a kangaroo maybe. a comparison is inherent in the use of mere. (sez me). I didn't look it up. probably should.
one use the word merely when the wish to trivialize something. or to point out the minimalism of its pertinence to a subject at hand. or to make self depreciating excuses.
most of the time, when one wants to appear smarter than one actually is. "just" was merely an unnecessary addition to this post...
