loads of different speakers

[vil]

taoa:

Thank you to one and all participants at the present forum. I have to lay stress on the event of the first importance for me, namely learning of a new for me informal meaning of the word 'load" = "a great number or amount". (Often used in the plural: loads of parties during the holiday season.)

Regards.

V.

[Methuselah]

Originally Posted by vil

taoa:

Thank you to one and all participants at the present forum. I have to lay stress on the event of the first importance for me, namely learning of a new for me informal meaning of the word 'load" = "a great number or amount". (Often used in the plural: loads of parties during the holiday season.)

Regards.

V.

I would disagree that the word "load" means "a great number or amount".

The word "loads" can imply this, but the word "load" in its correct sense means "the quantity borne or sustained by something".


"The truck left town with an empty load."

"The captain ordered the crew to start throwing the cargo overboard to reduce the load."

"The pilot jettisoned fuel to reduce the load"

"You will never repay the bank carrying such a load"

[vil]

Hi Methuselah,

There is a very helpful for you link.It would be a pity if it went to waste.

load: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com

Regards.

V.

[bhaisahab]

Originally Posted by Methuselah

I would disagree that the word "load" means "a great number or amount".

The word "loads" can imply this, but the word "load" in its correct sense means "the quantity borne or sustained by something".


"The truck left town with an empty load."

"The captain ordered the crew to start throwing the cargo overboard to reduce the load."

"The pilot jettisoned fuel to reduce the load"

"You will never repay the bank carrying such a load"

Yes Methusela,but what you are ignoring is the figurative sense of the word, vil is quite right that English people use 'load' or more especially 'loads' in a way which means a lot of something, a great number or amount.

[Methuselah]

My English,Latin teacher would hit me on my head with a copy of Milton's Paradise Lost, a huge book, if I made such assumptions.

He used to drum into us the importance of understanding the base meaning of words, in order to correctly interpret their meaning in context.

If you understand the meaning of the word "load" to mean "many", then there will be load occasions when you will not understand what the writer is trying to say.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on" ...Winston Churchill