to dishonor someone

[Nightmare85]

Hello,
Is the word dishonor (or dishonour for our British English friends) an acceptable word at all?
Let's say you beat someone 21:0 on table tennis.

There is also the word humiliate, but I don't like it that much.

Cheers!

 

[DRThomas]

I suggest that you find another verb.

(1) If John honors his father, he treats his father with dignity and respect. If John dishonors him, he treats him without honor and respect.

(2) To dishonor is also to bring shame. John's father is an honest, responsible man. John is a thief and a liar. John dishonors his father. He makes his father feel ashamed of him, and he tarnishes his father's good reputation among his peers.

The verb "to humiliate" is often used when speaking of a crushing defeat.

 

[Tdol]

You could use a verb like 'thrashed him 21-0', which is to me more about beating him comprehensively than rubbing his face in it.

 

[Nightmare85]

Thank you for your answers. :up:
So I guess that if I changed the example to, "A 4 year-old girl beats you on table tennis", dishonor would still not fit - according to DRThomas' explanation.
Then I think I will start using humiliate. :-o

Cheers!

 

[BobK]

'Humiliate' is good. There is also the verb 'to humble', but it means 'to inculcate with a degree of humility': '

I am humbled to receive this award' - I wasn't expecting it
I am humiliated to receive this award - I was expecting a better one
(So be careful! If you get this wrong, you'll give an unfortunate impression of your expectations ;-))

There are also sporting synonyms, as Tdol said. An interesting idiom is based on the expression Whipping boy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , which gives us usages like:

'Zimbabwe are the whipping boys of Group B' (which means everyone assumes that all the other teams in group B will thrash them).

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