Riglos  +  158548 Mon, 14 Nov 05 04:58 PM Hi everybody! Thesaurus gives these four meanings for the word "rather": Adv. 1. rather - on the contrary; "rather than disappoint the children, he did two quick tricks before he left"; "he didn't call; rather (or instead), he wrote her a letter"; "used English terms instead of Latin ones" instead 2. rather - to some (great or small) extent; "it was rather cold"; "the party was rather nice"; "the knife is rather dull"; "I rather regret that I cannot attend"; "He's rather good at playing the cello"; "he is kind of shy" kind of, kinda, sort of 3. rather - more readily or willingly; "clean it well, preferably with warm water"; "I'd rather be in Philadelphia"; "I'd sooner die than give up" preferably, sooner 4. rather - to a degree (not used with a negative); "quite tasty"; "quite soon"; "quite ill"; "quite rich" quite I find meanings #2 and #4 almost synonymous. Is this so or do they have clear, definite different uses and meanings? Thanks a lot! Mara.   Riglos Joined on Thu, Sep 15 2005 Full Member 169 Negatives

	Clive  +  158646 Mon, 14 Nov 05 11:52 PM Hi Mara, They seem synonymous to me. Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,583 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo

	MrPedantic  +  158660 Tue, 15 Nov 05 12:21 AM I wonder whether #4 is the "exclamatory" sense of "rather", i.e. "more than I expected", or "slightly surprisingly": 1. I visited MrQ last week. Do you know, he's rather rich! 2. "How was your pizza?" "Rather tasty!" 3. "What's his new girlfriend like?" "Rather pretty, actually..." (The intonation seems different from #2, as well.) MrP MrPedantic Joined on Tue, Oct 12 2004 Veteran Member 12,592 ...opella forensis / adducit febris... Intonations