So last night, Rachel was worried about something and I was trying to comfort her by telling her it would be fine.
Then finally after an hour of failed comforting I said, "I don't know what to tell you."
She of course said "I want you to tell me it will be OK."
"But," said I with a laugh, "I've been telling you all night it will be fine."
That is not the same. Not at all. They are apparently unofficial antonyms! So I looked it up and neither are listed as synonyms for each other but they are both synonyms for satisfactory. Also here are their extremely similar definitions, which are identical minus the examples:
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary
Fine: being to oneʼs liking <that is fine with me> — see satisfactory 1
OK: being to oneʼs liking <that dinner was OK, but I liked yesterday's better> — see satisfactory 1
But apparently there is an inferred uncaring connotation associated with fine, probably created by years of excessive sarcasm from Gen-X and post Gen-Xers akin to their use of whatever. Growing up I had adults angry with me whenever I used whatever to mean I had no strong feelings either way. So to clarify (since it is not in Webster's Dictionary yet):
Rachel's Dictionary
Fine = I hate you and nothing you say matters to me.
OK = I love you and care about what you think.
"OK, it's fine."
"Wait! Which is it? OK or fine because they do not mean the same thing."
I will just say OK now. I am fine with that.
It's only in the context of "It will be ___." that the difference matters. Food can be OK or fine, your day can be OK or fine, etc. But saying something will be fine means you're silly to even worry about it. Saying it will be OK means it is a valid concern, but things usually work out.
ReplyDeleteYour comment on this blog will be fine. Now who is being silly?
ReplyDeleteCamilla is apparently also crazy and believes this. IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME! As a matter of fact, I tend to always say "It's fine" because it sounds more reassuring to me, more proper.
ReplyDeleteCrazyheads...
Thank you! Finally a little reason to back me up.
ReplyDeleteIt is not reason! It is lack of appreciation of linguistic nuances. We are the saneheads, and you guys are the crazyheads.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, my word verification was pshawz, which seems appropriate.
ReplyDeleteBut Jonathan, when you said it will be fine, you weren't saying it will "be to [Rachel's] liking". That's just stupid. So try some more appropriate definitions because the dictionary's definitions totally fail to define the cultural nuance of the words.
ReplyDeleteCamilla, you are the best. Good point. I think we can all agree that it would be less than comforting to say "It will be satisfactory", "It will be agreeable", or "It will be good", even though those are all listed as synonyms in Merriam-Webster's.
ReplyDeleteOK so the only thing you two just proved is that Rachel is also wrong by wanting to hear that everything will be "OK" aka satisfactory. I wasn't about to tell her that everything will be super duper awesome amazing! But satisfactory sure. Once it is all said and done it will be to our liking.
ReplyDeleteTo your liking, maybe. I fully expect that I will not be satisfied at all, and that it will be forever a blot on my life experience.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like you are describing your life with me.
ReplyDeleteHaha. Not at all.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the SWKT? I need it.
ReplyDelete