# "Gehry still resides there." (Wikipedia language question). **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 7, 2017, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951 "2017-11-07T06:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/1 "2017-11-07T06:02:14Z")
To me, residing is perhaps laying down. A residence is where you lay down to sleep. In any case, the construct just sounds lame. But this is a favoured construct for Wikipedia. I’d say he still lives there. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/2 "2017-11-07T06:08:29Z")
A little stiff, but okay, especially if legal mattersare involved ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/3 "2017-11-07T06:09:28Z")
On first reading, I wanna say it sounds good to me. But after a couple seconds of thought, I think I might just not fully understand what is being asked. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/4 "2017-11-07T07:51:52Z")
One of the definitions of “reside” is to live in a place permanently or for an extended period. > **[reside](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/reside)** > > Definition, Synonyms, Translations of reside by The Free Dictionary So, yeah, they’re synonyms. “Reside” is perfectly fine to use. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/5 "2017-11-07T08:07:05Z")
What if he’s a robot or vampire? You wouldn’t say he “lives” there then…but resides still works. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/6 "2017-11-07T10:29:31Z")
If he lives there, doesn’t he lie down to sleep there too? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/7 "2017-11-07T10:37:16Z")
In American English, “reside” is just a fancy synonym for “live”’(in the sense of “inhabit”). It has no special implication of sleeping or laying down. Maybe it does in Australian English (assuming that’s where you reside)? Or maybe you’re confusing it with some other word, perhaps “repose”? ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/8 "2017-11-07T12:01:40Z")
To me, ‘resides’ has always meant ‘lives at’. The word has nothing whatever to do with lying down. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/9 "2017-11-07T12:47:26Z")
Reside = place of residence, for my understanding of American English, its some legalese for “where the mail goes, and where I vote.” Gehry might take a 9 month job working on a film in Hollywood, and all his fan mail and contract negotiations are processed by a PO Box in a major city, and he may bed showgirls nightly in major cities, but the residence is given. This is the thing with Wikipedia, Omega-level pendants want to point out that so-and-so is NOT a hometown boy, so people go into legalese so no one decides to put 20 trivial notes onto a biography post. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/10 "2017-11-07T12:51:16Z")
Sounds perfectly normal in American English, ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/11 "2017-11-07T12:59:56Z")
When determining who you pay taxes to, or wether you can attend a state college at reduced tuition, residency (where you reside) can be important. Sounds fine to me. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/12 "2017-11-07T13:27:49Z")
Agree with most of the others. It’s a bit formal, but a perfectly acceptable synonym for “live.” It has nothing to do with lying down. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/13 "2017-11-07T13:36:47Z")
[Moderating] This thread isn’t really about the arts, and so would better reside in IMHO. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/14 "2017-11-07T13:56:29Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > To me, residing is perhaps laying down. Are you perhaps confusing “reside” with another word, like “recline”? Although my inner Grammar Nazi feels obligated to point out that it’s not “laying down”; it’s “lying down.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/15 "2017-11-07T14:56:11Z")
The difference between live and reside seems to me to be that reside has a more specific meaning. A person lives anywhere they happen to be. Unless they get hit by a bus or something. So the place they reside indicates a more specific meaning. That’s why you can substitute reside for live in “I live in a trailer park in Camden County” but the substitution won’t work in lines like “Live every day to its fullest” “The doctor gave me six months to live” or “My children are my reason to live” or “I can’t live on less than a thousand dollars a month”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/16 "2017-11-07T16:03:22Z")
Never occurred to me to specifically associate “reside” with “lying down”. I thought this was going to about the correct use of present tense in a Wikipedia entry, i.e. which is better: 1. John Smith currently lives in Detroit. 2. As of November 2017, John Smith lives in Detroit. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/17 "2017-11-07T20:51:25Z")
For US English IMO/IME … People with multiple homes can live in each one for some part of the year, but they will reside in exactly one for the full year. IOW, reside is legal/formal, live is informal. Reside is also pompous. Lots of adverts for multimillion dollar beachfront condos here include marketing BS like “Reside in the style you deserve in the new Grande Del Mundo Luxury Skyrise.” Accompanied by pictures of sleek fake women sneering at the camera while draped over $10,000 couches. Which is kinda funny when you consider that we also use “residence” as a generic for different types of housing. A person who owns a detached house and a vacation condo would probably say “I have two residences” meaning two distinct buildings of different types. But legally he/she only resides in one of them. Regardless of which one they’re sleeping in tonight. They don’t reside in their other residence. Whoever said 'Merkin English has to make sense! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/18 "2017-11-07T20:57:06Z")
Ok. Clearly nothing wrong with it, just not a common Australian usage. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/19 "2017-11-07T21:02:14Z")
Gonna pop my Australian head in at this point and say … I think it’s as common here as anywhere. That is, a bit pretentious and bureaucratic for everyday use, but otherwise a perfectly cromulent word. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951/20 "2017-11-07T21:13:51Z")
All my exes live in Texas, therefore I reside in Tennessee. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gehry-still-resides-there-wikipedia-language-question/800951.md?page=2)