# Does 'scheme' have a negative connotation for you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 25, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638 "2017-08-25T11:33:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/1 "2017-08-25T11:33:35Z")
I recently got linked to a US/UK English usage quiz, one of the questions was based on a UK person declaring “I have a great scheme to increase revenue for our business”. Apparently their US colleague would think they’re up to something dodgy, as (according to this quiz anyway) in the US, ‘scheme’ only has a negative connotation. My experience in Aust & UK, Inpersonally consistently ‘scheme’ to virtually be a direct synonym for ‘plan’. Curious to know if scheme automatically conjures up negative images, and if so where you’re from. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/2 "2017-08-25T11:39:33Z")
It’s all in the context. In the context given, most Americans would not immediately think it was something sneaky. Not with JUST that sentence to go by. As with all word meanings, context is the key. Now. If you were given the one sentence “So-and-so is a schemer,” then chances are very good that most Americans would see that as a negative statement about So-and-so. So in addition to context, the exact version of the root word matters as well. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/3 "2017-08-25T12:10:58Z")
I think the neutral and pejorative senses are both used on both sides of the Atlantic; so, as **igor** says, it’s all in the context. However, I think the neutral usage is more common in the UK (e.g., UK Pension Scheme = US Pension Plan). So that may mean that when the context is somewhat ambiguous, a US speaker might be more inclined to infer the pejorative connotation. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/4 "2017-08-25T12:29:51Z")
Yep, I think on this side of the Atlantic it’s more likely to be seen as negative. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/5 "2017-08-25T12:31:57Z")
In politics it’s almost always used as negative, either as a plot to further one’s opponents political career or as an overly-convoluted-and-unworkable plan. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/6 "2017-08-25T12:46:24Z")
I agree with what **igor** and **Riemann** said, and add that “scheme” as a verb is much more likely to have a negative connotation than “scheme” as a noun. “–Out here, Daedalus. Lazy little schemer. I see schemer in your face.” -_A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man_, by James Joyce, from the UK side of the Atlantic ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/7 "2017-08-25T12:54:51Z")
I definitely think that in the US, it generally does have a negative connotation to it. To me, saying someone has a “good plan to make money” implies something different than if you say they have a “good scheme to make money.” Denotationally, they may be equivalent, but the way I’m used to hearing the word in at least an American context, it’s a bit negative. It doesn’t have to be, of course, but that’s my default feeling of the word, due to the contexts I typically hear it in. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/8 "2017-08-25T12:58:06Z")
Part of it is that I most associate that word with the phrase “get rich quick scheme” and “pyramid scheme” which both have a negative meaning to the them. (Maybe the first one can carry more a silly and quixotic connotation to it, but usually I hear it in the context of some ripoff scam. In either case, it’s not a positive word indicating a mature, thought-out plan.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/9 "2017-08-25T13:19:08Z")
In American football, scheme is used to describe offensive and defensive strategies with no negative connotations. I don’t know how much that is helping to remove the negatives often associated with the word. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/10 "2017-08-25T14:49:06Z")
I remember taking a graduate class where the professor used the word “scheme” frequently to describe varous non-profit corporate structures. There was one guy in the class who no one could figure out how he got accepted, because he would ask the craziest non-sequitor questions. One day, as the professor is going through some schemes, this guy chimes in “but what sort of tricks are they trying to pull?” After a few follow-up questions, it became clear that not only was this guy unaware of a second use of “scheme”, he was completely unwilling to accept there was the slight possibility that there was a second use - even from the professor who was using the term. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/11 "2017-08-25T14:53:25Z")
I just heard this last night as Jason Bateman was trying to sell someone on investing in his fund on Ozark. He says “The scheme is…” and I thought, why would you use just a loaded word when trying to make someone feel it’s safe to invest? Even when it’s for something fun (scheming about a party plan), it’s loaded in that it involves something secretive or underhanded. /American ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/12 "2017-08-25T14:55:29Z")
Many years ago there was a comic strip called, (I think), Mr. Boffo. In one single panel strip, there is a meeting in what looks like a corporate boardroom. One of the figures says, “I don’t want plans. I want schemes!”, which only makes sense if schemes has a negative connotation, and is pretty funny. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/13 "2017-08-25T17:07:41Z")
Yep. Negative. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/14 "2017-08-25T17:07:42Z")
For me ‘scheme’ pretty much always has a negative connotation. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/15 "2017-08-25T18:35:44Z")
Definitely negative, but I was aware of the UK / US difference, so I would not be surprised to hear a British person use it in a more neutral sense. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/16 "2017-08-25T19:25:17Z")
The connotation of the word in the US is that something underhanded is going on. Probably influenced by “Ponzi Scheme.” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/17 "2017-08-25T20:23:11Z")
Pretty much always negative for me too. Like others, I usually associate it with “pyramid scheme”, “Ponzi scheme”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/18 "2017-08-25T21:11:53Z")
With a few exceptions, yes. Colour schemes aren’t, but scheming is. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/19 "2017-08-25T21:16:45Z")
Definitely shady. I’ve never heard the word “scheme” without instantly associating it with underhanded. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638/20 "2017-08-25T21:30:52Z")
In that context, yes. It suggests to me that you had to have been “scheming” to come up with it, and that always has a negative connotation. It may be a hairbrained scheme, or more of a sneaky, crafty scheme. But definitely negative. A scheme to make more money would likely have a more underhanded or at least unsavory component to it than a plan. Or it might just be stupid, like a “get-rich-quick scheme.” This is not true when used in, say, a computer context. It means something more akin to a set of instructions on how something should be done. But, in that context, there is no idea of a schemer who came up with it. You don’t scheme to come up with a color scheme to a website. It’s actually probably just schema, as in schematic. None of those have bad connotations. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-scheme-have-a-negative-connotation-for-you/794638.md?page=2)