Diary - My mum has often said she regrets marrying my dad since I was a child

[Maybo]

This is an entry from my diary. Please check it and correct any mistakes.

Since I was a child, my mum has often said she regrets marrying my dad. I don't understand why she married my dad either. Again, she talked about that last night. I sometimes imagine what would have happened if my mum had married another guy? Or, what if my dad had chosen a not good looking woman as his wife. What would I be like now?

 

[Tarheel]

This is an entry from my diary. Please check it and correct any mistakes.

Since I was a child, my mum has often said she regrets marrying my dad. I don't understand why she MARRIED my dad either. Again, she talked about that last night. I sometimes imagine what would have happened if my mum had married another guy? Or, what if my dad had chosen a not good looking woman as his wife. What would I be like now?

Say:

She talked about that again last night. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if she had married somebody else. Or what if my dad had chosen a homely woman as his wife?

You wouldn't have been born if they had each married somebody else. So there's that.

 

[Maybo]

You wouldn't have been born if they had each married somebody else.

Maybe I would still have been born but with a different appearance.

 

[Tarheel]

OK.

 

[tedmc]

Say:

She talked about that again last night. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if she had married somebody else. Or what if my dad had chosen a homely woman as his wife?

You wouldn't have been born if they had each married somebody else. So there's that.

Maybo imagined what if would be like if her dad chose a "not-so-good looking" woman as his wife (Maybo's mum), not a homely woman.

 

[Tarheel]

Isn't that the same thing?

 

[tedmc]

Isn't that the same thing?

Not to me. A homely woman is not necessarily not so good looking

 

[Tarheel]

Unattractive
Not all that good looking
Not so good looking
Homely
Ugly

They all fall into the same category

 

[tedmc]

Unattractive
Not all that good looking
Not so good looking
Homely
Ugly

They all fall into the same category

So it's another American thingy.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/homely#:~:text=3.-,adjective,person%20with%20a%20ready%20smile.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, that's not what it means in American English. If I said a woman is "homely" it would not be considered a compliment. Another one for the list-- "handsome". For a man it's a compliment; for a woman it is not.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, this is an American thing, which has confused me before. I didn't learn that Americans consider 'homely' to mean 'ugly' until quite recently. To me, the words 'homely' and 'handsome' are both positive.