# Connations of the word "pristine." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695 "2011-01-23T21:26:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/1 "2011-01-23T21:26:21Z")
Please, nobody go rushing off to the dictionary in order to ensure your interpretation of the term is correct. The whole point of this thread is that the term “connote” denotes, according to M-W, this: [QUOTE=M-W] to convey in addition to exact explicit meaning [/QUOTE] We know what the word, by definition, is, but what do you think and feel when you hear it? So riddle me this, Dopers, is the connotation of the word “pristine” positive or negative? Even if it’s just one grey hair on the wrong side and slips into being negative, or if it just barely tips the scale in favor of being a good thing, vote accordingly. My poll is not intended to measure degree. Please note the conspicuous absence of the “Depends” option, because most things in life “depend,” but I am interested in speaking in generalities. Thanks, all. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/2 "2011-01-23T23:07:37Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Please note the conspicuous absence of the “Depends” option, Because we all know, Depends are rarely pristine. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/3 "2011-01-23T23:08:26Z")
Iiiiinteresting. Okay, speak up, kids. I expected the poll to be skewed toward positive, but not so highly. Negative/neutral voters, please post? I have an answer, but not now. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/4 "2011-01-23T23:43:33Z")
I am trying to think of any situation when I would use pristine with a negative connotation, and cannot come up with one. Unless it was sarcastic, in which case the word would still be positive even while the overall tone was negative. ---
**Author:** ![bluecanary](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bluecanary/32/3614_2.png) [@bluecanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluecanary)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/5 "2011-01-23T23:46:06Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I am trying to think of any situation when I would use pristine with a negative connotation, and cannot come up with one. Unless it was sarcastic, in which case the word would still be positive even while the overall tone was negative. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/6 "2011-01-23T23:59:04Z")
There are no situations where “pristine” would have a negative connotation. Anyone who gets the impression that the word is capable of such a connotation just doesn’t know the definition. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/7 "2011-01-24T00:15:49Z")
Ive read the same article. But I think they’re wrong. Otara ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/8 "2011-01-24T00:24:44Z")
Sorry, I know you don’t want “depends” answers, but it just depends. It depends on whether pristine is something to aspire to in the context it’s used. The hospital room was pristine when WhyNursling finished her shift. - good The novitiate acted with pristine grace, keeping God in her heart during her darkest hour. - good The bleach removed the grass stain, leaving the shirt looking pristine. - good My mother-in-law’s house is pristine; I’m afraid to sit on the furniture. - bad “Oh, obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl.” _- Breakfast Club_ - bad ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/9 "2011-01-24T00:59:08Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > My mother-in-law’s house is pristine; I’m afraid to sit on the furniture. - bad > “Oh, obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl.” _- Breakfast Club_ - bad I don’t think “pristine” is what is carrying the negative in either of these (in my opinion, of course). In the first, it’s only the second clause that conveys a negative impression, and the second example is sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/10 "2011-01-24T01:46:14Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > My mother-in-law’s house is pristine; I’m afraid to sit on the furniture. - bad > “Oh, obscene finger gestures from such a pristine girl.” _- Breakfast Club_ - bad Neither of these uses has a negative connotation. The first refers to not wanting to spoil something pure, and the second use is sarcastic. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/11 "2011-01-24T01:52:47Z")
I think some people hear the “priss” in “pristine” and associate it with somebody being fussy and judgemental, but that’s not what the word is supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/12 "2011-01-24T03:00:07Z")
I voted positive. However, I have heard it said that “so-and-so is talking pristine bullshit”. As in “pure unadulterated bullshit”. So I suppose pristine BS could be a sorta negative thing. SS ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/13 "2011-01-24T03:50:01Z")
I think of it as having a “retro” good connotation but only sort of neutral in modern parlance because it has overtones of inexperienced or overprotected as well as the nicer ones of untrammeled and pure. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/14 "2011-01-24T04:21:26Z")
Pretend like the OP is spelled correctly. Thanks! My response is it depends (;)) on whether we’re talking about nature or people. If we’re talking about a pristine forest of beach, for example, the answer is positive or neutral. But were a person, say, using the term to describe someone’s living room, or an office, or anything else related to a human being being’s actions, I conjure up an image of someone over-officious and anal. So anyway, hi **WhyNot**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/15 "2011-01-24T06:26:26Z")
For me, the connotation is always positive. Even “pristine bullshit” is positively unadulterated, pure bullshit from the (negative connotation) bullshitt_er_. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/16 "2011-01-24T08:31:10Z")
For me, the word itself is positive. Saying that “someone is talking pure bullshit” doesn’t make “pure” a word with negative connotations, either: what’s negative is the bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/17 "2011-01-24T12:09:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There are no situations where “pristine” would have a negative connotation. Anyone who gets the impression that the word is capable of such a connotation just doesn’t know the definition. I absolutely agree. And really, what does it even mean for a person to be “pristine”? That doesn’t even make sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/18 "2011-01-24T14:39:32Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > But were a person, say, using the term to describe someone’s living room, or an office, or anything else related to a human being being’s actions, I conjure up an image of someone over-officious and anal. I still wouldn’t, not with the word “pristine”. To me it has a connotation of being unspoiled, maybe the cleaning people just left and nobody’s sat on the couch yet. Someone over-officious or anal would have an “antiseptic” home or office. That would imply a standard of care which is unnecessary, overdone. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/19 "2011-01-24T15:02:11Z")
Someone used the word “untrammeled” as a condition of being “pristine.” I need to borrow that word because “pristine” always makes me think of new fallen snow. But if I saw a forest of beach, I’d look for the sand in the forest; if I saw a forest of beech, I’d look for the trees. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695/20 "2011-01-24T18:44:47Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There are no situations where “pristine” would have a negative connotation. Anyone who gets the impression that the word is capable of such a connotation just doesn’t know the definition. My sentiments precisely. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connations-of-the-word-pristine/568695.md?page=2)