On Fri, 23 Mar 2001, Drew Northup wrote:
> For the record, "resent" in English _only_ means "to
> feel indignantly aggrieved at" (verb, transitive).
Unfortunately I can't keep up with the technical discussions on this
list. But this grammatical thread...
Drew - 'resent' is a MUCH more interesting word than that. It has its
roots in the French 'resentir' [now 'ressentir']. (Shorter Oxford
Dictionary) 'Re-', as always, for 'back', or 'again'. 'sentir' for
'feel'. (French speakers, correct me if I'm wrong.) Re-Feel. As such,
it has all the delicious ambiguities of human emotion.
Its meanings include (again, from the Shorter)
* To have a feeling of pain or distress...
* To feel (joy, sorrow, pain etc.)
* To smell out, perceive.
* To feel injured or insulted by some act of another (close to your
meaning, above.
* To take well or ill.
* To savour of, have a touch or taste of (a person or thing).
There are other meanings as well, but you get the general idea.
Further, in Australian English at least, 'resent' IS an acceptable form of
the concept 'sent again'. (Macquarie Dictionary)
Ambiguity in the English language is something to be cherished, not
stamped out. Without it so much poetry & literature would be just dry
words.
Now, the technically illiterate should step out and shut up. (To be
unambiguous, I mean me.)
Cheers,
Ben Tindale.
(Is that any clearer, Ulrich? If it makes no sense at all then your
English must be just fine.)
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