unhurt

[mayclaire]

I have two questions!
1. Luckily, the tornado left the house unhurt. Can we modify a house with "unhurt" or "unharmed?" How about untouched, intact, undamaged, unimpaired? Which are acceptable?
2. He lifted/ raised his eyes from the newspaper as a pretty girl passed by.
Are both acceptable? Is there any difference between them?
Thanks a lot!

[BobK]

Originally Posted by mayclaire

I have two questions!
1. Luckily, the tornado left the house unhurt. Can we modify a house with "unhurt" or "unharmed?" How about untouched, intact, undamaged, unimpaired? Which are acceptable?
2. He lifted/ raised his eyes from the newspaper as a pretty girl passed by.
Are both acceptable? Is there any difference between them?
Thanks a lot!

'Unhurt' strikes me as rather odd; things that are hurt are usually animate. For a house, I'd prefer any of your alternatives, untouched, intact, undamaged - except 'unimpaired'. Things that are impaired tend to be processes or faculties: 'the accident left his sight unimpaired'; 'in spite of the engineering works, train services will be unimpaired/uninterrupted'.

That said, I suppose some people might want to use unhurt of a building, in order to suggest what happened/didn't happen to the people inside.

In 2, both seem to me acceptable - 'raised' might be used to suggest a lack of effort:

"He lifted his eyes from the newspaper, suddenly attentive: 'What did you say?'"

but

"He raised his eyes languidly from the newspaper: 'Did you say something?' he enquired, with the faintest of interest."

b

[mayclaire]

I am appreciative of your explicit explanation.
Thanks a million!