Need opinions!

[Quin]

*cliffs* In flash chat tonight, Al Gore came up. I said he was belligerently stupid. I literally meant aggressively stupid.*end cliffs*

whitemike and I have been debating this for the last thirty minutes or so, and it's pretty clear neither on of us are going to give up our ground. He believes belligerent can only be used if the subject is aggressive and hostile. I think belligerent can be used simply as aggressive.

The supporting definition for my argument is linked under this, note that he also linked this same definition and apparently didn't see any significance in the presence of the semi colon nor did he look at the adjectival section of the thesaurus (little farther down the page) where aggressive is clearly listed as an acceptable synonym.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/belligerent

 

[whitemike]

I just simply feel that regardless of any of your information above, the accepted usage of the word belligerent not only implies aggressive but hostile as well.

I love how you only quote the things I said that could possibly be debated!! You forgot to add that, while you said he's belligerently stupid, you meant in no way hostile. I don't think your sentence is incorrect, I think your usage is.

Also, while I'm at it, might want to take note that aggressive also has a definition involving hostility. See definition #2.

Edit: You can shove the semi colon up your ass.

-Mike

 

[whitemike]

Also, just want to add that.. While it may be a synonym of aggressive it's not the same word. Synonyms are similar words but they have subtle differences. I feel that if you meant 'aggressive' you should have said that. Using the word belligerent implies hostility whether you want it to or not. They're too similar of definitions, there's no way to distinguish between the two ('aggressive' or 'aggressively hostile') without you actually coming out and saying it.

I believe the definition of aggressive that the 2nd definition of belligerent is reffering to is this: "2. Inclined to behave in an actively hostile fashion"

Just want to add, guys, this is a healthy debate, no hard feelings here on my end.

-Mike

 

[Quin]

lol @ ;

I don't see where I said you were questioning the sentence? Post and poll clearly read as word usage to me.

Edit: Likewise here, it's all fun and games.

 

[Jeff Lange]

Word usage is correct, strictly from a sentence structure point of view, but I still don't think the way you used the word conveyed what you meant your statement to mean.

Jeff

 

[Quin]

Added intended meaning for clarity.

 

[Bri7man]

My hereby vote may or may not have been succumbed to bribery conducted by a fellow member of the debating party and in which case may or may not need to be bribed again for more info.

 

[Poodles]

Try a real dictionary...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belligerent

 

[whitemike]

Try a real dictionary...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belligerent

Why the hell didn't I think of that..

 

[pparrigo]

Yes, calling al gore stupid is a correct use of the word