Jessica
The difference between these verbs: pitch x reel, sway x totter Is there anyone who can help me? =) Thanks!
Sep 18, 2014 12:25 AM
Answers · 9
This is what I think. Claire will help herself best if she looks up a dictionary first. In the Oxford Dictionary, under "pitch" alone at least 18 meanings are listed. How can we copy and discuss all 18 here? I agree with Sean that Claire should show us some context, so that we can be more focused in the help we render, and also so that our responses are limited to a realistic length. Above all, Claire should cultivate an attitude of self-enabling independence as well as a habit of using a dictionary diligently and intelligently. These are two of the best gifts she can give herself. It is easy for us to put the answers on a silver platter (why should we do that?) but if in doing so we paralyse her mind and foster infantile dependency, we shall have done her a most poisonous disservice.
September 18, 2014
This is an extremely interesting question. All of these words suggest motion, but in different ways. Pitch: refers either to a forward/backward motion, or to a throwing motion. Here's a nice animation with a few even more obscure motion words: http://howthingsfly.si.edu/flight-dynamics/roll-pitch-and-yaw Reel: Implies spinning. Common uses: a drunk person might reel as they try to balance. Metaphorically, if you get bad news, you be reeling from it. If you're fishing, you reel in the fishing line (spin a handle to bring the line in). Sway: Means a side-to-side motion. Tree branches might sway in the wind. That same drunk person might sway while walking. Totter: Used especially for walking with poor balance--like you're almost falling down, but not quite. Unlike the others, this is less often applied to someone drunk, but you might use it for a very old person walking carefully, or a baby just learning to walk. Thanks for asking this--it's fun to explore these shades of meaning.
September 18, 2014
Pitch is throwing something out, away from yourself, and reel is bringing something back in. Totter and sway seem to be rather similar. Do you have more context? Do you have sentences where you have seen these words? Some words, like totter, aren't very commonly used so it's easier to explain in context.
September 18, 2014
Thanks, Tom! I'm so used to doing this that I didn't even notice it! =P
September 18, 2014
An English speaker from another country where this does occur can correct me if I'm wrong, but in English, we don't use "x" to mean comparison, we use vs., which is short for "versus" ...I have seen x used this way in Spanish and Portuguese media. In English, x means "by" or multiplication/times: "2x4" (2 inches wide on one side by 4 inches on the other) or "3x faster" (3 times faster) or in math, where many cultures use a "dot" we use x: 5 x 5 = 25
September 18, 2014
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