overlook, look over

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ophiuchus

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Hi,

I'd be thankful if somebody could help me with this.

I've come across sentences like:
The room overlooks the sea.

or
The room looks out over the sea.

Is the meaning exactly the same?

I've also read:
I'm happy with my room. I look over the sea.

Can you use these verbs then referring to the people rather than the room/balcony:
I overlook the sea.
I look out over the sea.


I'm in a lexical maze here. Any help would be extremely welcome!

Thanks

:roll:phi
 

Mannysteps

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NOT A TEACHER

You did pick a loaded word: “overlook”, but maybe this will be of some help:

Being the subject a tower, a castle, a balcony and so on, “overlooks” means that it stands on higher ground and enjoys a view of the object, in other words "have a privileged view":

“The room overlooks the sea.”

Being the subject a person it may have different meanings; to miss, ignore, fail to take notice accidentally or deliberately:

“He overlooked some of the instructions.” (accidentally or deliberately)

It may also means to watch over, survey or inspect:

“The foreman overlooks every single thing the workers do.”

As for "look over" it can also express enjoying a view, as well as to check, examine or inspect something:

" I've looked it over and I can't agree with any of it."
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Raymott

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Another related and very confusing word is 'oversight'.
It used to mean missing something by not looking closely enough - "Sorry, that was an oversight."
Now, it's actually a good thing, and oversight is one of the functions of a work foreman. Another auto-antonym?


http://www.google.com.au/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1ASUT_ENAU421&q=oversight&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=#hl=en&sa=G&rlz=1G1ASUT_ENAU421&q=oversight&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&ei=_V_iTYj-EYK4vQOSlrGjBw&ved=0CCwQkQ4&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=b49c60dddd7522a7&biw=1366&bih=600
 

Raymott

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“The foreman overlooks every single thing the workers do.”
No, I think that should be 'oversees', as in my previous post. It hasn't yet come to stage where foremen are regularly paid to overlook things.
 

ophiuchus

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Hi, thank you both.
 
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