Susceptible To

[Jacka]

Context: sports.

"After recent poor performance, he is susceptible to fan criticism."
Does it mean he is likely to be criticized by fans, or that he is more affected (than his teammates) by fan criticism?

[emsr2d2]

Context: sports.

"After recent poor performance, he is susceptible to fan criticism."
Does it mean he is likely to be criticized by fans, or that he is more affected (than his teammates) by fan criticism?

I think they mean that it is likely to happen. In reality, anyone is susceptible to criticism, however well they perform but I imagine in this context, it's more likely to happen due to his poor performance.

[Jacka]

Looking at a slightly different example:
"He is susceptible to flattery."

Does it mean he is easily fooled by fake praises, or he is more likely to be praised than others?

[5jj]

It's probably more likely to mean that he he responds well to flattery; his behaviour may be affected by it.

[Jacka]

"X is susceptible to Y" could mean either:

1. The probability of Y happening to X is now higher.
2. Y now has a greater affect on X.

Criticism and flattery are perfect opposites, yet they bring out different meanings of "susceptible to".

I am so confused.

[5jj]

"Susceptible [to sb/sth] very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sb/th" - OALD.

The precision meaning of many words is often unclear when considered with insufficent context. If we have only the words "After recent poor performance, he is susceptible to fan criticism", then we have no idea of knowing exactly what the speaker/writer intends to mean.

But then 'no' can mean 'no', 'I am surprised', 'I am shocked','I don't think so', 'yes', or many other things in context.

[emsr2d2]

"X is susceptible to Y" could mean either:

1. The probability of Y happening to X is now higher.
2. Y now has a greater affect on X.

Criticism and flatter are perfect opposites, yet they bring out different meanings of "susceptible to".

I am so confused.

It all depends on context. "Susceptible to..." might mean exactly the same thing whether it's used with "criticism" or "flattery" but the context would tell you which one. As always, this isn't an exact science!

[5jj]

Two great minds ...

[emsr2d2]

"Susceptibele [to sb/sth] very likely to be influenced, harmed or affected by sb/th" - OALD.

The precision meaning of many words is often unclear when considered with insufficent context. If we have only the words "After recent poor performance, he is susceptible to fan criticism", then we have no idea of knowing exactly what the speaker/writer intends to mean.

But then 'no' can mean 'no', 'I am surprised', 'I am shocked','I don't think so', 'yes', or many other things in context.

I think claiming that "no" can mean "yes" in certain contexts might get you into trouble with some people!

[5jj]

I think claiming that "no" can mean "yes" in certain contexts might get you into trouble with some people!

And some extreme feminists caused a stir not too long ago by claiming that a woman's 'yes' could mean 'no'.