# Linguistic Survey:  Meaning of "greed".

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-survey-meaning-of-greed/237137>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 29, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-survey-meaning-of-greed/237137 "2004-03-29T19:28:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-survey-meaning-of-greed/237137/1 "2004-03-29T19:28:56Z")

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I’d like to poll the Anglophone Dopers for the meaning they assign to the words _greed_ and _greedy_. Occasionally I see these words used to imply wolfish or excessive eating, perhaps after a period of great hunger. But more typically I see the words used to imply avarice with regard to monetary wealth or expensive possessions. This distinction doesn’t seem to be related to the era of the writing; the classic film _Greed_ from 1924 was specifically about monetary greed.

I thought of this when I came across a copy of _Charlie And The Chocolate Factory_ that I’d had as a kid. In introducing the characters, the author describes the fat, gluttonous Augustus Gloop as “a greedy boy”. But I’d say that the adjective “greedy” better fits Veruca Salt, who was completely spoiled by her parents, and raised holy Cain whenever she didn’t get what she wanted.

So, if you please, how do you use or understand the words, and what is your country?

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**Author:** ![SanguineSpider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SanguineSpider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanguineSpider)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/linguistic-survey-meaning-of-greed/237137/2 "2004-03-29T19:49:19Z")

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I live in the US. I have used the words both in a monetary sense and a gluttonous, spoiled sense (food, desires, wants). It depends on the subject of discussion for me. The words can describe a variety of unwanted behaviors and attributes. Both have a bad association.