More words that are easy to confuse.
loath and loathe
Sometimes writers of academic research papers and theses in Thai English try to make a literary impression. They may use terms they have seen in books, or in older writings. Since these expressions are not common in everyday speech any more, it is natural that they can sometimes be confused. Two words that have different meanings although they look similar are loath and loathe. The adjective loath means reluctant or unwilling. The word derives from a German word meaning sorrow, so to be loath to do something means to feel sad about doing it. The verb loathe means to hate or be disgusted by. It is a strong term, usually used in literary contexts in writing. The origins of the word loathe are the same as for the word loath, so in this case word origins do not help us to tell the terms apart. The word loathe is rarely spoken, so it not usually possible to hear someone say in English:
I loathed the film Muay Jin Din Kong Lok, which I saw at Central World Plaza Bangkok mall last evening.
Instead, the person would probably use a more conversation term meaning the same thing. For example:
I hated the film Muay Jin Din Kong Lok, which I saw at Central World Plaza Bangkok mall last evening.
or
I didn’t like the film Muay Jin Din Kong Lok, which I saw at Central World Plaza Bangkok mall last evening.
As in most cases, there are multiple ways to express the same thing. Instead of starting our sentence with with I hated or I didn’t like, we could rearrange the sentence to make it state the same thing:
The film Muay Jin Din Kong Lok, which I saw at Central World Plaza Bangkok mall last evening, was not good.
or
The film Muay Jin Din Kong Lok, which I saw at Central World Plaza Bangkok mall last evening, was not enjoyable.
When speaking English, we have considerable freedom about how we want to deliver information and how our sentences may be structures. Sometimes in formal academic research papers or theses, we must follow certain models. We might not enjoy so much freedom with word choice, especially if we are quoting an author from one hundred years ago who may have used a term such as loath or loathe. In that case, we are obliged to reproduce what the earlier writer said, and quote the text exactly. That is when it is useful to be sure about the difference between similar terms such as loath and loathe. These terms are somewhat difficult because it does not follow general rules in English language spelling. For example, in English it is common to change nouns and adjectives into verbs by adding some letters to the end of the adjectives. But unlike the case of loathe and loathe, most of the time a noun or adjective cannot be changed into a verb by adding the letter e. Instead, we add the letters ate, ize, en, and ify. As an example, by adding the letters en, the adjective dark becomes the verb darken. In general, adjectives are not easily changed into verbs as much as nouns are, because there are so many nouns in the English language, compared to verbs. Yet in English, some adjectives are also used as verbs, without changing a single letter. For instance:
prompt
second
slow
moderate
ready
clear
smooth
quiet
complete
clean
approximate
narrow
dizzy
faint
fit
Writers of Thai English might not think of some of the above words as verbs, but they can be correctly used as such. Let us look at the word quiet. It can be used as a verb in the following sentence:
The ajarn in the College of Innovation, Tha Prachan campus, managed to quiet the talkative class.
The adjective dizzy is also easy to use as a verb:
The technique used by the ajarn in the College of Innovation, Tha Prachan campus, to quiet the talkative class was to dizzy them with a complicated homework assignment and information about an upcoming exam.
Another common observation about English spelling is that by adding the letter e to most words, we change the pronunciation. Examples include:
on/one
us/use
hat/hate
tap/tape
at/ate
mat/mate
sit/site
cap/cape
at/ate
quit/quite
win/wine
Unfortunately for us, loath and loathe do not fit this pattern, since both are pronounced exactly the same way, adding to the confusion. Instead it is probably easier to just try to remember that the longer word with the letter e at the end is the verb, and the shorter word without the letter e at the end is the adjective. Some usage examples:
Rafael Nadal was loath to discuss his injury, refusing to say it had any bearing on the one-hour, 50-minute tennis match in Bangkok.
Elected judges, fearing bad publicity, may be loath to release an offender into the community.
“I am loath to erase history,” Mr. Bunch said. “For me it’s less about whether statues of Confederate army generals from the era of the American Civil War come down or not, and more about what the debate is stimulating.”
For starters, hotels are loath to do anything that might upset guests.
And in the month since his dismissal, Mr. Comey has shown why presidents are normally loath to fire F.B.I. directors.
Loath to Meddle in Election, Obama Delayed Blaming Russia for D.N.C. Hack
Global Governments, Loath to Change, Are Wasting Oil With Subsidies
I am loath to tell people to mortgage their houses and lease their children to acquire tickets to a hit Broadway show.
Amongst all this hubris was a clarion call to arms at the dawn of a new epoch: we must address the information revolution and the new media not with fear and loathing, but with imagination and wit.
Does Anybody Still Loathe Phil Collins?
Durian, loathe it or love it.
Far-Right Leaders Loathe the European Parliament, but Love Its Paychecks
Loathe Gefilte Fish? Not After You’ve Tried This
“I absolutely loathe hydrangeas,” the singer Madonna told someone sitting to her side, seemingly unaware that her microphone was on.
A new biography of the now-retired American talk show host portrays David Letterman as more self-loathing than self-critical — and an often miserable man.
It is no wonder that my twin babies Som Wang and Som Phong loathe their packaged baby food; I am loath to taste it myself.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)