Is my teacher adeqate?

[Raymott]

Raymott, with all due respect, I stand by my statement that 'apparent' and 'obvious' are synonyms.
Yes they are.

Obvious: Synonyms: apparent, ascertainable, clear-cut, definite, detectable, discernible, distinguishable, estimable, evident, good-sized, goodly, healthy, large, manifest, marked, material, measurable, noticeable, observable, obvious, perceivable, perceptible, plain, pronounced, recognizable, sensible, significant, sizable, substantial, tangible, visible
Obvious Synonyms, Obvious Antonyms | Thesaurus.com


The original post did not ask if the two words were 'strict' synonyms. To me, a 'synonym' is a 'synonym' whether it is strict or not.
How about now that the teacher has come back with: "Yeah, both words are completely the same"? (Post #6) Does that change the substance of the original post and the "strictness" with which the claim has been made?

Anyhow, to me the difference is totally goodly and sensible [sic]!

R.

[Tdol]

Nonetheless, questioning the inadequacy of a teacher because she believes these words are synonyms seems like a very shallow litmus test!

I agree with this. Also, when asked a question in class where an instant answer is called for, it is easy to give an over-general answer. When you have time to think of examples, it's easier to find examples of usage and differences, and everybody seems agreed that there is overlap- the question is how much.

[Raymott]

I agree too, and I think it’s quite understandable for a teacher to say things like this. The inevitable result of admitting that the words are not strict synonyms is having to answer, “What’s the difference?”. As we’ve seen this is difficult enough for native speakers. I would be very tempted to agree that they are complete synonyms too in a classroom situation. It’s a simple choice between telling a little white lie, and committing yourself to another ten minutes of work before the next class (and multiply that by the number of “What’s the difference?” questions you let yourself in for per day).
Given that, it’s not so much a sign of inadequacy as one of self-preservation.

[BobK]

... when asked a question in class where an instant answer is called for, it is easy to give an over-general answer...

This reminded me of a time when a Polish student was reading a story which used the word 'zloty'. I told him that there was no /zl/ in English; what I meant was that in words not borrowed from other languages, word-initially, this consonant cluster was impossible. But it does occur quite frequently in phrases like 'has left'.

b

[birdeen's call]

Some people say synonyms have 'the same or nearly the same meaning' and then disagree about the meaning of 'nearly'. Raymott used the expression 'strict synonym', and said - I agree - that in real life 'strict synonyms' are very rare. Web-sites and books that list 'synonyms' aren't strict.

I think there can even be a problem with the definition of 'strict synonyms'. Is it enough that they denote exactly the same entity or should they also be used in the same way?

I told him that there was no /zl/ in English

Off-topic
Although this cluster isn't at all strange for my language, ironically, this is not the case where it's present... It's one of the cases in which English speakers borrowed the spelling and not the pronunciation. And not only did they borrow just the spelling but also got rid of the diacritics. It's "złoty" with a barred "l" originally. It's pronounced /zwɔtɨ/. Another example is "kielbasa" which is "kiełbasa" in Polish.

[BobK]

I think there can even be a problem with the definition of 'strict synonyms'. Is it enough that they denote exactly the same entity or should they also be used in the same way?

Good question. I generally try to avoid the word "synonym" if I can because it means so many different things to so many people. Discussions involving it tend to generate more heat than light.

Off-topic
Although this cluster isn't at all strange for my language, ironically, this is not the case where it's present... It's one of the cases in which English speakers borrowed the spelling and not the pronunciation. And not only did they borrow just the spelling but also got rid of the diacritics. It's "złoty" with a barred "l" originally. It's pronounced /zwɔtɨ/. Another example is "kielbasa" which is "kiełbasa" in Polish.

Thanks I didn't realize how far off the mark I was - imprisoned* by English phonology!

b
PS *Well, at least hidebound.