what are open adjectives.

[trevayne]

what are open adjectives?

 

[5jj]

what are open adjectives?

Where did you meet this expression? It's new to me.

 

[BobK]

Where did you meet this expression? It's new to me.

....And to me. Shame - I read this thread hoping you'd know. ;-)

I imagine it might sometimes be used as an abbreviation for 'open to interpretation'... (as when someone politely says an idea is 'interesting' rather than 'totally impractical', or when a civil servant tries to dissuade a minister from a course of action by describing it as 'brave' or 'innovative' rather than 'foolhardy' or 'doomed to failure'). But it's not an idiomatic usage I've met - although 'open' itself is that sort of adjective: for example an 'open carriage' is not at all like an 'open sandwich' or an 'open question'. (So that you might meet something like:

"When writing a CV or resumé, avoid 'open' adjectives: a potential employer wants to know precisely what you mean and what you've done; say, for example, 'over 10,000' rather than 'innumerable'".​

b

 

[TheParser]

....And to me. Shame - I read this thread hoping you'd know. ;-)

I imagine it might sometimes be used as an abbreviation for 'open to interpretation'... (as when someone politely says an idea is 'interesting' rather than 'totally impractical', or when a civil servant tries to dissuade a minister from a course of action by describing it as 'brave' or 'innovative' rather than 'foolhardy' or 'doomed to failure'). But it's not an idiomatic usage I've met - although 'open' itself is that sort of adjective: for example an 'open carriage' is not at all like an 'open sandwich' or an 'open question'. (So that you might meet something like:

"When writing a CV or resumé, avoid 'open' adjectives: a potential employer wants to know precisely what you mean and what you've done; say, for example, 'over 10,000' rather than 'innumerable'".
​

b

********** NOT A TEACHER **********


Mr. K,

When you mentioned words such as "interesting" being open

to interpretation, I immediately thought of something that is

used in American English: weasel words.

One time a substitute teacher (British: supply teacher???) returned to the

principal's office after teaching a horrible class of disorderly students. The

principal asked, "Well, how was your day?" The substitute (not wishing to

offend the principal) replied: It was an interesting experience.


********** NOT A TEACHER **********

 

[BobK]

I've taken the liberty of cutting out the space at the end of the quote.

b

 

[Rover_KE]

Thank goodness for that. It was wearing out my mouse wheel.

Rover

 

[TheParser]

I've taken the liberty of cutting out the space at the end of the quote.

b

Thank you so much. As a computer illiterate, I did not know how to do

that. When I pressed "quote," that big space came up, and I was

nonplussed.

 

[5jj]

Thank you so much. As a computer illiterate, I did not know how to do

that. When I pressed "quote," that big space came up, and I was

nonplussed.

I wasn't particulary plussed myself when I saw all that space.