'mood' Vs 'temper'?

[Mehrgan]

Hi,
Could anyone please tell me what the difference is? I hear that temper is a bad mood. Does that suggest that temper is negative in itself? (then, how about sweet-tempered?)


Thanks.

 

[bhaisahab]

Hi,
Could anyone please tell me what the difference is? I hear that temper is a bad mood. Does that suggest that temper is negative in itself? (then, how about sweet-tempered?)


Thanks.

"A temper" (noun) is a bad mood. "Sweet-tempered" is an adjective. "Temper" can also be a verb. Look them up in a dictionary.

 

[birdeen's call]

"Temper" as a noun may not mean bad mood. One can have an even temper or a good temper. (One can lose one's temper.)

A couple of quotations:

Wonderful, what weeks of flight can do for a naturally mild temper.

Peter S. Beagle, Quarry, 2004

Keeping my hands entwined with hers, I told her about the funeral, recounting the eulogium and the remarks of the clergyman on Grandfather's excellent temper, his scholarly reputation, his liberality.

Deanna Raybourn, The dead travel fast, 2010

I ordered the farmer's special: three pancakes, three eggs, a side of scrapple. (In Lancaster County, appetite trumps diplomas.) Beulah asked for coffee-no sugar, no cream-and, as an afterthought, two eggs. Waiting for the food, she barely spoke. Shyness around an unfamiliar man? Maybe shame? Or the meek temper of Gelassenheit. It's the personal submission the Amish strive for-self-denial for community's sake -- and a lack of it was Beulah's supposed crime.

Michael Lowenthal, An expert in excommunication, 2002

"Temper" is however far more often used to mean bad mood than just mood.

 

[TheParser]

Hi,
Could anyone please tell me what the difference is? I hear that temper is a bad mood. Does that suggest that temper is negative in itself? (then, how about sweet-tempered?)


Thanks.

***** A NON-TEACHER's COMMENT *****


(1) I agree that usually "temper" has a negative connotation.

(2) For example, I know someone who loses his temper quite

quickly. Sometimes when he goes to a store (where, for example,

the sales associates -- a nice term for "clerks" -- are rude), I will

often say to him:

"Watch your temper." ( = Don't let those clerks make you angry.)

I would never say: Don't lose your mood. (That would sound

ridiculous.)

Respectfully yours,


James

 

[Tdol]

There are some exceptions like even-tempered.