Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: how to use "lame"

How chav is the word "lame" meaning "stupid"?
Can I say: "This sentence is quite lame" or it sounds too rude?
Thanks
ladybat
-- 
e' qui l'autunno:
bisogna arrendersi all'evidenza
dello starnuto

 
"chav" *ain't in my American dictionary, so I can't tell you how chav it is.
I don't think your sentence sound too rude, but I do think it sounds weird.
"quite" and "lame" don't belong in the same sentence, not in the US, anyway.
"real lame" works and it's not rude, but it's usually people who are lame, or 
ideas are lame, or plans are lame; I'm not really sure a sentence can be 
lame. I know that sounds lame, but I can't explain it any better.
*"ain't" ain't a good word to use.
-- 
Disclaimer:
My goal in posting here is to provide readers with
acceptable, viable, correct examples of how an
American speaks day-to-day English; how to sound
like an average person, not a great work of literature
or someone who speaks like a grammar book. jdwd

 "chav" *ain't in my American dictionary, so I can't tell you how chav it is.
Tamarro.
-- 
"And the whole Earth was of one language, and of one speech". 
(Genesis 11,1)

 
ladybat
*In a scale 1-10, how lame is this question? ;D
-- 
Philosophy is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat.
Metaphysics is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat
that isn't there.
Theology is like being in a dark room and looking for a black cat that
isn't there and shouting "I found it!"

 *In a scale 1-10, how lame is this question? ;D
See, somehow, a question can also be lame. But for some reason a sentence 
shouldn't be lame. A *statement* can be lame. An excuse can be lame. An idea 
can be lame. Maybe it's just that "a sentence" is too tame to be lame.
Or, maybe my whole argument is lame.


 the sense of incompatibility between the two words.
Also, other the formal/informal incompatibility, the word "quite" tries to 
limit the adjective as to state something but not wanting to, while "lame" 
does't leave anything unspoken.. so I'd rather use other ways to put it in 
words... like "this sentence is not very clever" ... this sounds better to 
me.. 

 to
Not necessarily. "quite" can also mean "completely", "totally"... it's 
not really limiting!
-- 
Laz - [ 
http://www.dimensionedelta.net
 ]
[ 
http://www.josswhedon.it
 | 
http://www.miltoncaniff.net
 ]
"I aim to misbehave". 

 can be lame. Maybe it's just that "a sentence" is too tame to be lame.
You could say that the opening sentence of a novel was lame, I think.



Except that, in the US anyway and IMHO, it usually refers to some human 
incapacity or idiocy.



As you previously mentioned, "That's a lame excuse" is very common. As a
matter of fact, I can't think of a better way to express the sentiment in
that phrase.
Joe from Massachusetts

 
 thru a park
is "thru" officially accepted in the US?
-- 
inizio d'autunno:
nel mare e nei campi
un verde solo

 
Only in advertisements, IMs and occasionally e-mail, other than with 
illiterates. Oh, road signs, too, but that's mostly for space considerations.


 -- 
 "New York State Thruway" does fit better on the road signs.
Joe from Massachusetts