I am writing a paper, and in the introduction I have written the following: Now, my boss says "Don't use rife, it has a negative connotation." Ok, whether it does or it doesn't, I don't care. But why does rife have a negative connotation? What gives words connotations? I mean, I wouldn't imagine that a party of nation-minded socialists would want to be called "National Socialists", for obvious reasons. But a word like "rife"---why should it conjure up bad images?
My first thought was "That's nonsense, it's a perfectly acceptable neutral word", and then I read your sentence out loud and thought "Aargh bad news!" My take is that the word has been used mostly in things like news reports where you get things like "Speculation is rife concerning..." It gives a sub-text of uninformed gossip. That's my first take on it.
Yeah I don't know. I was just proud that I used an SAT word Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Teeming/ abounding/ rampant(?). How about "replete"? That's a nice woody word (to quote Monty Python).
I'll let someone else do a Google search on the word and tally the positive and negative uses... but I must say that the word has a negative connotation to me. I'm far more likely to comment that the park is "rife with mosquitoes" than "rife with butterflies." I just checked Dictionary.com . Although its definitions are superficially neutral, the examples tend toward the negative. A city is "rife with crime," "rumors are rife" about a political scandal. A common synonym given is "teeming"--another word with an ostensibly neutral connotation, yet we usually hear about Third World cities "teeming with rats," not First World cities "teeming with poodles."
-=- Connotations are assumptions & imaginings which are not indicated by definitions. In other words, they're nonsense. They cause people to misunderstand & miscommunicate needlessly.
What's next? Scare quotes? You're off to a good start if your intent is to cast aspersion on these "so called" constructions. If, on the other hand, these constructions are in a sense a lead-in to the work you have done you might want to start with something like You can use these abundant constructions to buttress your work, or you can alternatively proceed to tear them down if that is your intent. This construction is neutral, and has the added benefit of being active voice. Aside: You used another word in that sentence that has negative connotations in the world of physics: "qualitatively".
So I suppose you wouldn't want to say "The literature is infested with constructions which are ... ."
-=- Yes, that's hilarious. Funnier to me tho is there is nothing negative in the definition of rife yet people want it to be. By definition, infest is negative.
Yep, much like the word 'teeming' that Fraggle used as an example. The phrase I immediately think of is "Teeming with life," which I think is positive. Anyway, that's humans for ya. I think Oli's suggestion, 'abound', would probably be the most neutral one.
The patterns of use by those who most authoritatively use them - the community of authors. They change, but not instantly and not by fiat. There have been times and regions in the US when "farm" had negative connotations, noun and verb. It's surprising what the familiar take for granted - when George Bush Sr referred to his own agenda as establishing a "new world order", the intellectual elite in the US flinched, waiting for the shock. It never came. The major media just handed it out as normal speech - apparently the term had no connotations with them.
I'm not familiar with that word Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! It sounds like 'deplete' though Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
"There is a large body of research with constructions...blabla" Science and accountant reports should be neutral.
English, especially American English, is a democratic language. Popular usage has as much "authority" as academics and professional writers when it comes to updating the language. "Buffalo" has long been an accepted word for the American bison, which is actually a species of the cattle genus. And "dove" is now accepted, although not recommended, as the past tense of "dive." "Replete" is an adjective, not a verb. It's a superlative word that goes beyond "complete."
Thanks, Fraggle Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Although, I do not see how something can be beyond complete. I take it you mean that the word puts extra emphasis on the concept ('complete') ?
Meh, if I buy a basic minimum-cost Lada and you get a top-end Mercedes with ALL of the extras, is my car not still a complete car?
