[Vocabulary] Angry with, angry at, angry over?

[mokbon]

Hi?

First, I've always thanked for everyone in this website.

And this is my question with a part of article.

The 52-year-old former driver says that in October, as board members watched, a trucking company owner beat him repeatedly with an aluminum baseball bat in anger over Yoo's former union activities.
South Korean conglomerates act as though they are above the law - Los Angeles Times

I found that the verb angry goes with at, about, over.
Do these have different meanings?
What is the usage of over in this context?

 

[dut_thinker]

Hi?

First, I've always thanked for everyone in this website.

And this is my question with a part of article.

The 52-year-old former driver says that in October, as board members watched, a trucking company owner beat him repeatedly with an aluminum baseball bat in anger over Yoo's former union activities.
South Korean conglomerates act as though they are above the law - Los Angeles Times

I found that the verb angry goes with at, about, over.
Do these have different meanings?
What is the usage of over in this context?

First, I want to tell you that 'angry' is not a verb but an adjective.
Second, when you are irritated by sb, you can say I am angry with sb; when you are irritated by sth, you can say I am angry at/ about sth.
Generally, be angry at sth has the same meaning with be angry about.
Howerver, in the following example, about can not be replaced by at
Ex1) She was angry about his laughing at her.
Because here to use about to avoid the repeat of at.
In addition, be angry at is focusing on people's behavior.
Ex: I was angry at his slipshod work.

If you want to express you are very very angry with sb, you can also say be angry at sb.
Ex: We were angry at the boys for their tardiness.

As for angry over, I know nothing about it.
Hope it helps.
[not a native]

 

[TheParser]

a trucking company owner beat him repeatedly with an aluminum baseball bat in anger over Yoo's former union activities.



What is the usage of over in this context?


NOT A TEACHER


(1) May I add just a few words to dut_thinker's excellent answer?

(2) First, it might be helpful to remember:

angry = adjective.

anger = noun (in your sentence).

(3) According to many books:

I am angry at/with Mona (a person).
I am angry about/over the current political situation. (something)

(4) When we use "anger" as a noun, we also use either "about" or "over."

(a) Here is a sentence that I found at the very reliable Learner's Dictionary on the Web:

"The group expressed its anger over/about the company's arrogance."

(5) I cannot explain why, but I feel that "over" is definitely the better preposition in

your sentence.

P.S. The Fowler brothers (they wrote books on "good" English) reminded us that

prepositions are NOT really grammar. They are idioms. That is, native speakers in each English-speaking country decide by usage which prepositions are "correct." If you continue to read a lot of American newspapers, you will discover that "in anger over" is a very popular phrase.

 

[5jj]

First, I want to tell you that 'angry' is not a verb but an adjective.
Second, when you are irritated by sb, you can say "I am angry with sb"; when you are irritated by sth, you can say "I am angry at/ about sth".
Generally, 'be angry at sth' has the same meaning [STRIKE]with[/STRIKE] as 'be angry about'.
Howe[STRIKE]r[/STRIKE]ver, in the following example, 'about' cannot be replaced by 'at':
Ex1) She was angry about his laughing at her., [STRIKE]B[/STRIKE] because here [STRIKE]to[/STRIKE] we use about to avoid the repeat of at.

Some people might prefer to use 'about' here, but there is nothing wrong with 'at'.

In addition, be angry at is focusing on people's behavior.
Ex: I was angry at his slipshod work. 'About' is fine here.

If you want to express you are very very angry with sb, you can also say be angry at sb.
Ex: We were angry at the boys for their tardiness. 'With' is fine here.

5

 

[5jj]

The Fowler brothers [...]t reminded us that prepositions are NOT really grammar. They are idioms. That is, native speakers in each English-speaking country decide by usage which prepositions are "correct." If you continue to read a lot of American newspapers, you will discover that "in anger over" is a very popular phrase.

:up:

 

[dut_thinker]

5

Thank you for your correction, 5jj.
I am not a native speaker, but i like to share the idear with others.
I have to say sorry that sometimes my reply might confuse the questoiner.
So I hope the native speaker could correct my reply like 5jj.