"Feel" vs "Believe"

brianlux

I don't know if this belongs here in AMT but since I generally see this happen more here than elsewhere I figured this is a good place to post this. I know this is going to sound nit-picky as hell but stick with me here just for a minute.

It is common in our discourse- at least here in the US, maybe elsewhere- to substitute the word "feel" for "believe". Even in everyday conversation we often hear people say things like, "I feel like going to the store." When someone one says something that, a good response might be, "Oh really? How does that feel?" What the person really means is, "I want to go to the store" or "I believe it's time I should get to the store." Generally the use of the word "feel" is best accompanied by a feeling word. "I feel sore when I go to the store because my feet hurt so much."

This becomes more important when talking about issues. If someone says, "I feel that the XYZ situation was a cover up what the person really means is, "I believe the XZY situation is a cover up or, perhaps, "I feel angry over the XYZ cover up".

Then you might here this: "The XYZ situation makes me mad." Or someone might say to me, "You make me mad because you don't understand that the XYZ situation is a cover up,", to which I might respond, "Oh really? Can I make you give me a thousand dollars?" Saying something "makes you" often gives that something power that it doesn't actually posses. Don't give up your power. If you do, while your at it, please give me a thousand dollars. I think that's about what my time is worth here, don't you?

EdsonNascimento

That is some great stuff, Brian. Thank you.

It made me think and smile (but not give you $1).

brianlux

EdsonNascimento wrote:

That is some great stuff, Brian. Thank you.

It made me think and smile (but not give you $1).

Can't blame a guy for trying!

JonnyPistachio

Good points Brian.
Reminds me of a few weeks back when I said to my wife, "I feel like ice cream."
And she poked my arm and said, "you feel human to me."


I felt drunk last sunday, but who will ever know, I don't remember a thing.

I used to be rich. I used to to go school there. "Used to."
How is the word 'use' assumed to mean 'did in the past'? This one honestly confuses me.

brianlux

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Good points Brian.
Reminds me of a few weeks back when I said to my wife, "I feel like ice cream."
And she poked my arm and said, "you feel human to me."


I felt drunk last sunday, but who will ever know, I don't remember a thing.

I used to be rich. I used to to go school there. "Used to."
How is the word 'use' assumed to mean 'did in the past'? This one honestly confuses me.

Excellent question, Jonny! I never thought about that one. Thanks!

pandora

Feel is an incredibly important word to me, it is me

if you've ever been to a place where you have lost all feeling and been blessed
to feel again

if one can imagine this then I think one grasp the concept of feel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

BinauralJam

i feel ya

brianlux

pandora wrote:

Feel is an incredibly important word to me, it is me

if you've ever been to a place where you have lost all feeling and been blessed
to feel again

if one can imagine this then I think one grasp the concept of feel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go

I agree it is an important word which I why I stress it's use is most appropriate when feeling is what is meant. When substituted for another, "feel", "believe" and "want" lose their true meaning and confuse discourse.

rollings

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Good points Brian.
Reminds me of a few weeks back when I said to my wife, "I feel like ice cream."
And she poked my arm and said, "you feel human to me."


I felt drunk last sunday, but who will ever know, I don't remember a thing.

I used to be rich. I used to to go school there. "Used to."
How is the word 'use' assumed to mean 'did in the past'? This one honestly confuses me.

that's just the way the word is used is all :wtf:

Definition of USE

transitive verb
1archaic: accustom, habituate

2: to put into action or service : avail oneself of : employ

3: to consume or take (as liquor or drugs) regularly

4: to carry out a purpose or action by means of : utilize; also: manipulate 2b <used him selfishly>

5: to expend or consume by putting to use —often used with up

6 to behave toward : act with regard to : treat <used the prisoners cruelly>

7: stand 1d <the house could use a coat of paint>

intransitive verb
1—used in the past with to to indicate a former fact or state <we used to go more often> <didn't use to smoke>
2: to take illicit drugs regularly

Who Princess

You guys are overthinking this. :P

It's just a euphemism. It doesn't making any more or less sense than saying "Beats me" instead of "I don't know." Language changes and evolves; it's not static, and those changes don't drag it down or elevate it. That's the beauty of language.

At least that's how I feel. :P

MotoDC

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Good points Brian.
Reminds me of a few weeks back when I said to my wife, "I feel like ice cream."
And she poked my arm and said, "you feel human to me."


I felt drunk last sunday, but who will ever know, I don't remember a thing.

I used to be rich. I used to to go school there. "Used to."
How is the word 'use' assumed to mean 'did in the past'? This one honestly confuses me.

HA! I approve of your wife's sense of humor.

@Brianlux -- I enjoyed your semantic assessment. It gets at another underlying point, namely that words have power and thus it's important that the words we use be allowed their "real" meaning. Hmm, but what's real? That's a problem. Words like "racist", "fair", "life" we all seem to use slightly (or substantially) differently. Makes for a challenging conversation sometimes.

MotoDC

Who Princess wrote:

You guys are overthinking this. :P

It's just a euphemism. It doesn't making any more or less sense than saying "Beats me" instead of "I don't know." Language changes and evolves; it's not static, and those changes don't drag it down or elevate it. That's the beauty of language.

At least that's how I feel. :P

Probably, but that's the fun of semantics.

However, using your example of "beats me" -- the difference I see between that and Brian's example is that yours would likely never serve to confuse the discourse. It will be very obvious by context whether you mean you're a victim of domestic abuse..."[He] beats me"...or whether you just aren't sure about the answer..."The average velocity of an airborne swallow? Beats me."

redrock

The English language is a lot more sophisticated and complex than we are led to believe!

Unfortunately, it is no longer taught as it should be in schools, thus children do not have as wide a grasp of vocabulary as the language deserves.

I remember the good old days of writing the 5000+ word essay, trying not to repeat 'common' words, looking up synonyms in my massive thesaurus (no internet then!).

A language is so organic - it's development is fascinating.

JonnyPistachio

rollings wrote:

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Good points Brian.
Reminds me of a few weeks back when I said to my wife, "I feel like ice cream."
And she poked my arm and said, "you feel human to me."


I felt drunk last sunday, but who will ever know, I don't remember a thing.

I used to be rich. I used to to go school there. "Used to."
How is the word 'use' assumed to mean 'did in the past'? This one honestly confuses me.

that's just the way the word is used is all :wtf:

Definition of USE

transitive verb
1archaic: accustom, habituate

2: to put into action or service : avail oneself of : employ

3: to consume or take (as liquor or drugs) regularly

4: to carry out a purpose or action by means of : utilize; also: manipulate 2b <used him selfishly>

5: to expend or consume by putting to use —often used with up

6 to behave toward : act with regard to : treat <used the prisoners cruelly>

7: stand 1d <the house could use a coat of paint>

intransitive verb
1—used in the past with to to indicate a former fact or state <we used to go more often> <didn't use to smoke>
2: to take illicit drugs regularly

Very true. But it makes you think...I guess the point is that some words have obvious meanings that cant be misconstrued too much. Others such as feel, believe, use, etc.. can have such a variety of meanings, that its a surprise a new word didnt evolve.

How about: I used to use the dictionary.
Imagine if you were a native speaker of another language and trying to figure that one out.

MotoDC

JonnyPistachio wrote:

Very true. But it makes you think...I guess the point is that some words have obvious meanings that cant be misconstrued too much. Others such as feel, believe, use, etc.. can have such a variety of meanings, that its a surprise a new word didnt evolve.

How about: I used to use the dictionary.
Imagine if you were a native speaker of another language and trying to figure that one out.

Yup, and that's exactly what comes to mind whenever I begin to learn another language. The nuances of language that we all take for granted simply because it's the only (or primary) language we've heard our entire lives, which would yet be bewildering to someone trying to learn it as a second language.

pandora

BinauralJam wrote:

i feel ya

"a strong emotional response"

brianlux

Who Princess wrote:

You guys are overthinking this. :P

It's just a euphemism. It doesn't making any more or less sense than saying "Beats me" instead of "I don't know." Language changes and evolves; it's not static, and those changes don't drag it down or elevate it. That's the beauty of language.

At least that's how I feel. :P

I understand what you are saying, Who Princess, but I would argue that the changes to the English language- especially as spoken in the U.S.- have led it to become less accurate, less descriptive, and I believe (not feel) that as a people we are less articulate. For example: the word cool is an excellent word used to denote excellence or a personal liking or something to that effect, but it's usage has become so widespread that it has virtually wiped out a large portion of other adjectives that are more descriptive. Not, in my opinion, so cool.

My biggest issue here is with hearing or reading people say, "I feel that..." This has absolutely nothing to do with feeling. It is lazy language at best. If what is being said is a belief, state it as such. If it's a strong belief, use a feeling word to enhance the statement: "I'm feeling very bored hearing Brian go on and on about this petty argument over the usage of 'feel' and 'belief' because frankly, I don't believe it is all that important."

pandora

this reminds me of the movie Inception... awesome!
what you believe vs what you know
what you feel vs what you believe

I think we should all work on our feeling skills but alas some don't want to play

I imagine 100 years in the future our perception will be so much more tuned,
at least I hope, that we can feel much more about each other and the world.
A heightened sensitivity. Even communication. Well if we can stop thinking
and open up. ESP baby... it's evolution.

BinauralJam

pandora wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

i feel ya

"a strong emotional response"

Are you flirting with me?

I strongly agree with Who Princess, my wife's best friend was an English major her first time going through college and my mother in law was a Latin major, they are always trying to "Define" what is proper and right and wrong, We have had long boring conversations deep into the night about this, but i Believe it's an ever evolving thing. It's communication. It's all made up anyway.

pandora

BinauralJam wrote:

pandora wrote:

BinauralJam wrote:

i feel ya

"a strong emotional response"

Are you flirting with me?

I strongly agree with Who Princess, my wife's best friend was an English major her first time going through college and my mother in law was a Latin major, they are always trying to "Define" what is proper and right and wrong, We have had long boring conversations deep into the night about this, but i Believe it's an ever evolving thing. It's communication. It's all made up anyway.

always I've always liked the sound of that word ... its so fun and playful

I love words, words are the best. I agree it is evolving, each generation makes some changes.
Unfortunately I have not kept up with the slang :oops: that can prove quite embarrassing.

brianlux

Here's my final argument for the degradation of the English language:
:roll:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/767091/