# Vocabulary

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 7, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358 "2007-09-07T14:54:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358/41 "2007-09-11T17:01:55Z")

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Abide?

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**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358/42 "2007-09-11T17:12:08Z")

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[QUOTE=SiXSwordS]  
Abide?  
[/QUOTE]

Only if you’re The Dude.

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**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358/43 "2007-09-11T17:12:47Z")

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[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]  
I, too, would like to see such a word.

“I indifferent opera.” Nope. And “am indifferent to” doesn’t count. **Mangeorge** was looking for a word, not a phrase, otherwise “don’t care about” would have covered it.

“I meh opera.” Nice ring, but it still isn’t right.  
[/QUOTE]

But you could feel indifferent towards opera, or, better yet, be ambivalent about opera, both of which are valid constructions.

Still, point is taken, that it appears that a verb is what is being sought.

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**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358/44 "2007-09-11T17:50:55Z")

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[QUOTE=SiXSwordS]  
Abide?  
[/QUOTE]  
Actually, “tolerate” is almost there. It still has a negative connotation, rather than the purely neutral feeling we’re looking for, but “I tolerate opera” is getting closer.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2007, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vocabulary/418358/45 "2007-09-11T18:52:52Z")

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[QUOTE=InvisibleWombat]  
\<snip\>It still has a negative connotation, rather than the purely neutral feeling we’re looking for ..  
[/QUOTE]

emphasis mine  
I thought we were concerning ourselves with words. If we’re going to worry about connotations and _feelings_ we’ll never find a neutral word. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that connotations cannot be neutral by definition, but by the time you have one nailed down it’s likely to have changed.

That being said, ‘tolerate’ has a built-in connotation; the object of toleration is viewed negatively.

Abide, on the other hand, is often used with, _can’t_. (I can’t abide a list with fewer than three items.) It’s a bit like the saying: I couldn’t care less. The negative connotation is in the construction of the sentence. Saying, “I _could_ care less,” really means nothing more than, “I care.”

By using abide alone, the only negative connotation comes from faint praise.

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