titled vs entitled

1 2 3

Share on Facebook

Yoong Liat

#367120 Fri, 18 May 07 05:15 PM

I've read the book entitled / titled "Old Man and the Sea".
Which word should I use?
Thanks in advance.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,006)

Yoong Liat

NewPhilologist

#367125 Fri, 18 May 07 05:25 PM

I'd simply say "I've read Old Man and the Sea", but if you must choose, I'd use "titled".

NewPhilologist

Joined on Sun, Oct 1 2006

Full Member (129)

Feebs11

#367152 Fri, 18 May 07 06:08 PM

Yoong Liat wrote:
I've read the book entitled / titled "Old Man and the Sea".
Which word should I use?
Thanks in advance.

I would use neither, but say "I've read a book called 'The Old Man and the Sea' ." To say "titled" makes you sound pedantic.

"Entitled" = To give something a title >> "He entitled his new book 'The Old Man and the Sea'."

Feebs11

Joined on Thu, Nov 23 2006

Senior Member (4,922)

Kooyeen

#367236 Fri, 18 May 07 09:34 PM

Yoong Liat wrote:
I've read the book entitled / titled "Old Man and the Sea".
Which word should I use?
Thanks in advance.

Heh, good question. The Oxford Advanced L. D. says they have the same meaning, but the Longman Dict. of Contemporary E. doesn't list the verb "title". So, although it seems both are ok, I really don't know which one is more common and actually in use. Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (3,973)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

Verbs

Yoong Liat

#367240 Fri, 18 May 07 09:56 PM

Kooyeen wrote:
Yoong Liat wrote:
I've read the book entitled / titled "Old Man and the Sea".
Which word should I use?
Thanks in advance.

Heh, good question. The Oxford Advanced L. D. says they have the same meaning, but the Longman Dict. of Contemporary E. doesn't list the verb "title". So, although it seems both are ok, I really don't know which one is more common and actually in use.

If I remember correctly, in the past 'titled' was used in AmE, whereas 'entitled' in BrE. But I believe nowadays, the British are adopting AmE. This is my conclusion based on what Kooyeen says is stated in The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Yoong Liat

Verbs

Clive

#367281 Sat, 19 May 07 12:15 AM

Hi,

If I may be fussy, I believe the full title is 'The Old Man and the Sea'. Smile [:)]

Clive

Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004

Canada

Veteran Member (21,184)

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

Yoong Liat

#367367 Sat, 19 May 07 06:00 AM

Clive wrote:
Hi,

If I may be fussy, I believe the full title is 'The Old Man and the Sea'.

Clive

I'm forgetful. Yes, you're right.. It's 'The Old Man and the Sea'

Best wishes

Yoong Liat

Marius Hancu

#367449 Sat, 19 May 07 12:02 PM

They are both used, but in BrE you may want to look at the BBC stats for relative frequency and use entitled:

158 from bbc.co.uk for "book titled"
848 from bbc.co.uk for "book entitled"

1,590 from nytimes.com for "book titled"
1,220 from nytimes.com for "book entitled"

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Kooyeen

#367454 Sat, 19 May 07 12:25 PM

Marius Hancu wrote:
They are both used, but in BrE you may want to look at the BBC stats for relative frequency and use entitled:

158 from bbc.co.uk for "book titled" ---> 87
848 from bbc.co.uk for "book entitled" ---> 443

1,590 from nytimes.com for "book titled" ---> 268
1,220 from nytimes.com for "book entitled" ---> 242

Hi Marius,
I hope you don't mind if I correct your results. The number of results Google gives you on the first page is not relevant (it could even be wrong by 10,000% sometimes) Smile [:)]

In this case there isn't much difference: in any case you can see that both "titled" and "entitled" are in use. Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Numbers

1 2 3