Ah yes, gratitude. That warm feeling you get when someone does something wonderful for you.
“I’m so grateful for those scones you baked me.”
Is ‘thankful’ a true synonym in its everyday usage? Generally not. ‘Thankful’ is not so commonly directed at another person and, in fact, is most often employed for situations.
“I’m so thankful for the fact that I’m on holiday tomorrow.”
Sometimes, ‘thankful’ is also used when reflecting on a situation which didn’t happen.
“I’m just thankful I didn’t waste longer on that man.”
So probably the best substitute is ‘appreciative’, a word which recognises the actions of another person.
“Jane carried my bags up the stairs for me and I was so appreciative.”
How can we ‘ramp up’ ‘grateful’ then? Try adding interesting adverbs.
Don’t bother with lukewarm adverbs like ‘fairly’. They sound fairly nonsensical when combined with a strong word like ‘grateful’.
Instead, choose from the stronger variants. ‘Terribly’, ‘hugely’, ‘incredibly’ and ‘extremely’ are all perfect here.
Now we come to two words which are often listed as synonyms for ‘grateful’, but have slightly different, rather more ominous, meanings.
Think of the word ‘debt’…and shudder. It’s frequently found on people’s lists of most-disliked words. The derived ‘indebted’ has a much heavier meaning than grateful.
“I am in your debt. As you’ve done something for me, I now have to do something for you in return.”
Likewise, the similar ‘beholden’.
The underlying notion of both these words is that if someone does something kind for you, you owe them a return favour.
Idiomatically: “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
Perhaps the other person just got pleasure from scratching yours?
Ah yes, gratitude. That warm feeling you get when someone does something wonderful for you.
“I’m so grateful for those scones you baked me.”
Is ‘thankful’ a true synonym in its everyday usage? Generally not. ‘Thankful’ is not so commonly directed at another person and, in fact, is most often employed for situations.
“I’m so thankful for the fact that I’m on holiday tomorrow.”
Sometimes, ‘thankful’ is also used when reflecting on a situation which didn’t happen.
“I’m just thankful I didn’t waste longer on that man.”
So probably the best substitute is ‘appreciative’, a word which recognises the actions of another person.
“Jane carried my bags up the stairs for me and I was so appreciative.”
How can we ‘ramp up’ ‘grateful’ then? Try adding interesting adverbs.
Don’t bother with lukewarm adverbs like ‘fairly’. They sound fairly nonsensical when combined with a strong word like ‘grateful’.
Instead, choose from the stronger variants. ‘Terribly’, ‘hugely’, ‘incredibly’ and ‘extremely’ are all perfect here.
Now we come to two words which are often listed as synonyms for ‘grateful’, but have slightly different, rather more ominous, meanings.
Think of the word ‘debt’…and shudder. It’s frequently found on people’s lists of most-disliked words. The derived ‘indebted’ has a much heavier meaning than grateful.
“I am in your debt. As you’ve done something for me, I now have to do something for you in return.”
Likewise, the similar ‘beholden’.
The underlying notion of both these words is that if someone does something kind for you, you owe them a return favour.
Idiomatically: “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
Perhaps the other person just got pleasure from scratching yours?
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Sunday, June 21, 2020
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Feelings words
