[Vocabulary] sinfully!

Status
Not open for further replies.

jang gang

New member
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Korean
Home Country
South Korea
Current Location
South Korea
hello. I have a question
I watched a drama 'how i met your mother'
situation is christmas and they are seems happy
anyway,
cast said : "baby, do i smell your sinfully cinnamon cookies?" "yes"
I don't know 'sinfully' meaning
dictionary says guilty,creppy .. etc
I'm so confusing I think he means positive.
anyway thanks for reading I can't speak english very well..
 
[STRIKE]h[/STRIKE] Hello. I have a question.
I watched a drama '[STRIKE]h[/STRIKE] How [STRIKE]i [/STRIKE] I met your mother'.
The situation is [STRIKE]c[/STRIKE] Christmas and they [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] seem[STRIKE]s[/STRIKE] happy.
anyway,
cast said : "baby, do i smell your sinfully cinnamon cookies?" "yes"
I don't know 'sinfully' meaning
dictionary says guilty,creppy .. etc
I'm so confusing I think he means positive.
anyway thanks for reading I can't speak english very well..
I'll correct the rest of your post when I have time. In the meantime, could you let us know which dictionary defines 'sinfully' as 'guilty, creepy'? It's not one that I know.
 
You're right - it's positive, but the dictionary's right too. They are cinnamon cookies, and they're delicious - hard to resist. This use of 'sinfully' isn't an idiom. It's chosen - probably by the person who named the cookie recipe - because of the alliterative jingle with 'cinnamon'.

b

PS after seeing 5jj's post - it's fairly approximate, but the use of 'guilty' to mean 'sinful' would work in a collocation like 'guilty secret' (which, as you know, is a secret of guilt, and not a secret that itself is guilty of something!) I assume jang gang knocked the '-ly' off before going to the dictionary and looking up 'sinful'.
 
Last edited:
Gluttony is a sin. These cookies are so delicious that they lure you to the sin of gluttony.

But really, more broadly, there is sometimes a feeling that anything that feels truly wonderful must somehow be sinful. Eating a really rich, dark, chocolate cake can be so good you think eating it must be a sin. Such a cake (like Lily's cookies) is sinfully delicious.
 
PS after seeing 5jj's post - it's fairly approximate, but the use of 'guilty' to mean 'sinful' would work in a collocation like 'guilty secret' (which, as you know, is a secret of guilt, and not a secret that itself is guilty of something!) I assume jang gang knocked the '-ly' off before going to the dictionary and looking up 'sinful'.
And 'creepy'?
 
And 'creepy'?
You've got me there. Perhaps the lexicographer is a high moralist and thinks that sinful people are creeps...:-? ;-?

b
PS Students: this is a lame attempt at a joke. 'Creepy' doesn't mean 'like a creep'. That sort of 'creep' is an informal way of saying that someone 'makes your flesh crawl' [=makes you feel uneasy], or more generally is just an insult. 'Am I going out with him?? What, that creep!?' (I tried making the object 'her', to avoid implications of bisexuality, but it didn't sound right. It seems :)-?) that a 'creep' is necessarily male.)
 
It seems :)-?) that a 'creep' is necessarily male.)
That's an interesting point. I hadn't thoight of it before, but I think you are right. Both males and females can be 'creepy', but only a male can be 'a creep'. I think.
 
Just for the record, "How I Met Your Mother" is in no way a drama. It's a sitcom.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ask a Teacher

If you have a question about the English language and would like to ask one of our many English teachers and language experts, please click the button below to let us know:

(Requires Registration)
Back
Top