Re: [OT] "sensible" in English

[Niklas Holsti <niklas.holsti@tidorum.invalid>]

On 13-03-06 21:56 , Ludovic Brenta wrote:
> Adam Beneschan writes on comp.lang.ada:
>> On Wednesday, March 6, 2013 11:01:24 AM UTC-8, Niklas Holsti wrote:
>>
>>> So "sensible" has multiple meanings.
>>
>> You may be technically correct.  My usual source, m-w.com, also lists
>> a number of similar meanings.  But I have to say that, in 52 years of
>> speaking and reading (American) English, I have *never* seen or heard
>> the word "sensible" used in that manner, or in any manner other than
>> what's given in the 4th definition at m-w.com, "having, containing, or
>> indicative of good sense or reason", or the 5th one.  The examples
>> they give in the first three definitions sound like a foreign language
>> to me.  Frankly, I'm surprised to seem them there at all.  Perhaps I'm
>> the outlier here, and other English speakers have heard the word
>> "sensible" used with one of those meanings fairly often.  If so, I'd
>> be interested to hear from them.  But based on my own experience, if
>> you use the word "sensible" like that, other people will not
>> understand what you're talking about.  And being technically correct
>> counts for little if you're not understood.  So I'm standing by what I
>> said.
> 
> I'll have to support Adam here.  As a Frenchman I learned early on that
> "sensible" was a "false friend" to native French speakers -- it looks
> and sounds like a French word -- indeed, it *is* originally a French
> word -- but has a totally different meaning than in French.  In French,
> "sensible" means "sensitive" while the English "sensible" should be
> translated as "sensé" (i.e. "that which makes sense").  I've never
> encountered a different meaning, not even when reading Tolkien or
> Shakespeare, who are both known for their "creative" use of English :)
> 

It's curious that all the "Examples of SENSIBLE" at m-w.com use it in
the meaning "reasonable, having good sense", reflecting Adam's and
Ludovic's usage, while all the "Synonyms", "Antonyms", "Related Words",
and "Near Antonyms" refer to the meaning "perceptible, noticeable".

I googled for "difference sensible" and got several references to
"sensible heat", as opposed to "latent heat", which seem to be
thermodynamic concepts. I assume that "sensible heat" does not mean
"reasonable heat", but it is probably seldom used in everyday
conversation :-)

-- 
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
      .      @       .