Anonymous  +  297847 Sun, 26 Nov 06 08:56 PM does the word zealous usually has a negative or positive connotetion? Anonymous Negatives

	Clive  +  297856 Sun, 26 Nov 06 09:29 PM Hi, It's usually positive. On the other hand, over-zealous sounds negative. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,612 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

	Philip  +  298334 Tue, 28 Nov 06 02:25 AM  Clive wrote: Hi, It's usually positive. On the other hand, over-zealous sounds negative. Best wishes, Clive Hi, Clive.  I was about to respond much the way you did, but I would have said "overly zealous" (no hyphen).  How does that sound to you?  (I normally don't add anything to your sage advice.) Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,737 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Negatives, Hyphens

	Clive  +  298368 Tue, 28 Nov 06 05:21 AM Hi Philip, My dictionary offers overzealous (without a hyphen), but I certainly wouldn't object to overly zealous. Google suggests that forms like over-zealous, over zealous and overzealous are quite a bit more common. Best wishes, Clive Clive Negatives, Hyphens

	TommyT  +  299528 Fri, 01 Dec 06 12:19 PM I am not sure if zealous is used in a religious context. Perhaps you were referring to zealots, as both "zealotes" and "zealous" are derived from the same Greek word. Were zealots good or bad? Well it depends whether you study the history of the Roman empire or not, I suppose. TommyT Joined on Fri, Dec 1 2006 New Member 14 Negatives