Timeline for What is the one word for doll witch
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| Feb 23, 2014 at 0:10 | comment | added | Louel | FumbleFingers: Have a look at Merriam-Webster Unabridged and you'll see that their first definition of "enchant" is :to influence by or as if by charms and incantation : bewitch (a princess enchanted by a cruel sorcerer) Does the usage here seem positive to you? Anyway, all I wanted to do was to point out that other competent native speakers also use "haunted" and "enchanted" to describe a doll. I don't disagree with the other things you've written here. | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 23:31 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Louel: Who brought MW into this? Note that their noun definition of haunt is a place habitually frequented - not an object. And their definition of enchant (there's only the verb) is to attract and hold the attention of (someone) by being interesting, pretty, etc.. All of their example usages are "positive". Also note that I never said small objects can't be "haunted" - but it's a very rare usage. And even today (more so a couple of centuries ago), "enchantment" can be a bad thing. It's just a relatively unusual usage compared to Enchanted the Disney movie. | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 22:24 | comment | added | Louel | As I was saying, I don't question the fact that "haunted" collocates with "house" or "castle", but to say that it shouldn't be used to refer to smaller things, like a doll isn't quite right. I also agree that "enchanted" generally has a positive connotation, but to say that it has ONLY positive connotations is also wrong. Hence, in Merriam-Webster Unabridged, we see this sentence under the entry "enchanted"--a princess ENCHANTED by a cruel sorcerer. FumbleFingers, being a competent native speaker, has good reason to trust his own intuitions. But are the lexicographers of MW incompetent? | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 22:05 | comment | added | B. Szonye | I think FumbleFingers is correct that haunt properly refers to a spirit inhabiting a place, rather than possessing an item. However, I also think it's common to stretch the meaning to apply to similar things. Thus, something like a haunted painting or doll is understandable and acceptable, but also a bit marked and novel. | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 21:59 | comment | added | Louel | No disrespect, FumbleFingers, but the name was not invented by whoever wrote this Wikipedia article.. "Robert the Haunted Doll" is a name used by Americans (from Florida), who have every right to claim they are competent native speakers just as much as you do. I'm not saying you've been misusing the terms "enchanted" and "haunted". I'm just saying your notion of such words doesn't reflect how the words are used by other English speakers.Here are the links (not from Wiki):hauntedamericatours.com/hauntedstates/hauntedflorida/… youtube.com/watch?v=ffMwb1mAMv8 | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 21:57 | comment | added | Louel | And this video proves that native speakers from the US also use "haunted" for things that are not necessarily big enough for "life-size evil spirits (or actual people) to live inside." In this video, they use "haunted" to describe a painting. I'm sure you're familiar with the show Friends--and I hope a competent native speaker like you will find their English up too scratch. youtube.com/watch?v=hnJyTsH5zsg | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 21:14 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | No disrespect, Louel, but I'm a competent native speaker. With words as common as these I'd rather trust my own intuitions than those implied by a badly-written Wikipedia page which is flagged as having "multiple issues". | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 21:08 | comment | added | Louel | @FumbleFingers I urge you to read the link I've posted. Clearly it doesn't quite match your notion of "haunted" and "enchanted". | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 16:05 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | Haunted is usually applied to things which are big enough for "life-size" evil spits (or actual people) to be inside (as in, houses, castles). And enchanted usually has positive connotations, not negative ones. | |
| Feb 22, 2014 at 15:09 | history | answered | Louel | CC BY-SA 3.0 |