There are many adjectives in English which ostensibly mean the same thing, but have a negative or positive connotation, so it’s as well to be careful how you use them. So, if you were to describe someone as weird, it’s strange in a bad way. Curiously, the origin of the word is connected to fate, or destiny, and was then used by Shakespeare in Macbeth, referring to the witches as the weird sisters. You can see why, when you think of the role of the witches, manipulating Macbeth’s fate, but his use of the word was almost like a precursor to how we understand it today as strange or uncanny, but not in a good way! Again, the witches. Eccentric, however, is a little more ambiguous, sometimes even said with a certain fondness. The cat lady who goes to the supermarket in her slippers… And no, that’s not sexist, indeed I’m on the way to becoming that lady… But I digress. The word itself literally means outside (like ex-) the centre. So not within normal limits or conventions. And that is not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

Is your six-year-old child stubborn or determined? Maybe that depends on how much you love them. Is that harsh? OK. Maybe it depends on how close you are to tearing your hair out. You admire their focus? Determined. You only asked them to get dressed or you’d be late for work? Stubborn. While stubborn tends to mean obstinate, determined carries the idea of having come to a decision. We also have the idea of being decided on a course of action. And in Spanish, determinado means specific or defined, not determined in the same sense (it can be used, but uncommonly). For that, we would say, decidido, decided. And so it comes full circle.

Is your workmate confident or arrogant? Someone who is confident is self-assured. Literally, you trust yourself, if you are self-confident. But it also refers to having trust in others or in a situation. I’m confident it will turn out well. And a confidante is someone you might tell your secrets to. So it’s an adjective to describe a person, and a feeling. In Spanish, confianza is simply trust, and for confident, as a personality adjective, they might say seguro (de si mismo), or sure of oneself, that is to say, self-assured. Again, it all comes back to the same thing. Am I wrong to find that interesting? Well, I don’t care. Whereas arrogant suggests haughty or overbearing. The roga bit of the word comes from to ask for, or demand, (rogar in Spanish), so it’s the idea that you are demanding or claiming something for yourself, be that attention or recognition. And arrogant people always think of themselves first, don’t they?

Is your partner fussy or (a) perfectionist? We tend to see fussy as negative, making a fuss about something unimportant, whereas although a perfectionism can be an incredibly annoying trait as seen from  outside, it generally suggests someone who is hard-working and pays attention to detail. Hard to live with, but you feel churlish to criticise someone who just wants to get things right.

A note on naive and innocent. While naive means ingenuous, unworldly, and so, in a negative sense, easy to manipulate or fool, innocent is pure or blameless, the noc bit coming from the root of harm, (like nocivo in Spanish), with the in- prefix, denoting without. OK, all clear. But on the 28th of December, (the feast of the Holy Innocents in the Christian calendar, you know, when Herod killed all those babies) it’s the Spanish equivalent of April Fools! And to everyone who falls for a prank, they will call out Inocente! I rather think it should be something more like Ingenuo meaning naive, but that’s just me, aside from the fact that it may be in poor taste to choose that particular day for the leg pulling! But hey, one of the many idiosyncrasies of the mix in Spain of religious and lay culture and history. I’ll say no more.

And what about you? Probably we’d all choose the most positive versions to describe ourselves, after all, they denote laudable qualities for the most part, but are we really being honest, or just delusional? Have you ever made a rash decision that you would consider bold? Rash comes from a root meaning hasty or swift, and if you make a rash decision, you don’t consider the consequences. Bold, (atrevido in Spanish), normally meaning brave, could also be a little rash, come to think of it. What are you actually thinking if you tell someone their decision is a bold move…? I’m reminded of the classic series Yes (Prime) Minister, in which Sir Humphrey, the leading Civil Servant, advises his politician Jim Hacker on his decisions. Courageous is one of the words he uses, if memory serves, which could be interpreted as brave, or indeed foolhardy. Jim tends to feel flattered and then immediately panicked when this occurs!

Is a successful politician manipulative (negative) or resourceful (positive)? I’ll leave that one hanging…

And then there are other more ambiguous adjectives… Protective could be positive or negative, though to clarify our intention, often we would use the prefix -over if we want to express disapprobation. Idealistic, however, without any prefix or suffix, can be seen as positive or negative depending on context and who you are describing. It could mean unrealistic, or hopeful and positive. Having faith in humanity or being completely out of touch.

And just a final note on another related but dissimilar point: contronyms. Here, we don’t have two words with a similar definition and with positive or negative connotations. Rather, we have one word which has two opposite meanings. Oversight, for example, means both supervision and omission. So paying attention and not paying attention at the same time. I guess over can be understood as beyond or past, or alternatively, on top of. So to look past something, or to be on top of a situation. Does that fly? It’s possible that the use of the word to mean an omission or a lapse is connected to overlook. You know, sight, look… You get my drift. Similarly, sanction can mean to approve or to punish. On face value, it seems ridiculous, but it kind of makes sense, as the root of the word relates to enforcing a law or a decree.

So, to sum up, choose your words carefully as you never know who you may offend or falsely praise… But have as much fun as you can with the wonderful twists and turns language can take.

Just don’t get me started on puns… That’ll be for another time…

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