What does "worsted" (verb) mean?
preops
"As a courtier he was utterly worsted by Robert Walpole, whose manners were
anything but refined"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield
What does "worsted" mean in this case? None of the dictionary definitions
I have found on the web contain this word (except as a noun meaning a type
of cloth).
Athel Cornish-Bowden
From the context it looks as if it means the same as (or is an error
for) "bested".
Robert Walpole got the best of him; he gor the worst of the interaction.
Although "bested" and "worsted" look like antonyms, I don't find it
particularly odd that they should be synonyms: it's a question of point
of view.
--
athel
Marius Hancu
> What does "worsted" mean in this case? None of the dictionary definitions
> I have found on the web contain this word (except as a noun meaning a type
> of cloth).
2 here:
---
worst
Function: transitive verb
1 chiefly archaic : WORSEN
2 a : to get the better of in a fight, conflict, or contest : DEFEAT,
OVERTHROW <one who had been personally worsted in combat --
A.C.Whitehead> <had been worsted in his first encounter with partisan
government -- Tremaine McDowell> <the champion worsts all his
opponents> b : to defeat in a debate, argument, or suit : OUTDO, BEST
<could so easily worst ... his mother in the medium of words --
E.K.Brown> <seeking to worst his detractor in a court of law>
M-W U
---
Marius Hancu
Patok
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/worst
--
You'd be crazy to e-mail me with the crazy. But leave the div alone.
--
Whoever bans a book, shall be banished. Whoever burns a book, shall burn.
James Hogg
If you look up the verb "worst" you should find it in any dictionary. It
means "defeat, get the better of" somone.
--
James
tony cooper
Looks like a created antonym for "bested".
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Marius Hancu
Not in M-W, I had to go to M-W U to find it.
Marius Hancu
Steve Hayes
If you are worsted by someone, it means that that someone got the better of
you.
Don't ask me to explain why one is comparative and the other superlative. They
just ARE.
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
John O'Flaherty
<acor...@ifr88.cnrs-mrs.fr> wrote:
>On 2010-12-23 17:42:47 +0100, preops <inv...@nospam.com> said:
>
>> In a Wikipedia entry it says
>>
>> "As a courtier he was utterly worsted by Robert Walpole, whose manners were
>> anything but refined"
>>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Stanhope,_4th_Earl_of_Chesterfield
>>
>> What does "worsted" mean in this case? None of the dictionary definitions
>> I have found on the web contain this word (except as a noun meaning a type
>> of cloth).
>
>From the context it looks as if it means the same as (or is an error
>for) "bested".
I think you're right, and it's not an error.
>Robert Walpole got the best of him; he gor the worst of the interaction.
>
>Although "bested" and "worsted" look like antonyms, I don't find it
>particularly odd that they should be synonyms: it's a question of point
>of view.
The direct object of either word is the loser.
The article uses some old-fashioned elegant language - e.g.,
"His published writings have had with posterity a very indifferent
success;"
At the end of the article is this notice:
"This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public
domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica"
From the way it reads, the entire article is taken from there.
--
John
R H Draney
>
>If you are worsted by someone, it means that that someone got the better of
>you.
>
>Don't ask me to explain why one is comparative and the other superlative. They
>just ARE.
The expression here is "got the best of you", as in the "Dwarf's Yodel Song"
from Disney's "Snow White":
I chased a polecat up a tree
Way out upon a limb
And when he got the best of me
I got the worst of him.
....r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
Steve Hayes
>Steve Hayes filted:
>>
>>If you are worsted by someone, it means that that someone got the better of
>>you.
>>
>>Don't ask me to explain why one is comparative and the other superlative. They
>>just ARE.
>
>The expression here is "got the best of you", as in the "Dwarf's Yodel Song"
>from Disney's "Snow White":
I dunno. "Got the better of" is the one that6's more familiar to me.
Mark Brader
>> What does "worsted" mean in this case?...
Tony Cooper writes:
> Looks like a created antonym for "bested".
Nevertheless, it is an established word which is in fact a synonym
of "bested".
--
Mark Brader "'A matter of opinion'[?] I have to say you are
Toronto right. There['s] your opinion, which is wrong,
m...@vex.net and mine, which is right." -- Gene Ward Smith
Jonathan Morton
news:4q87h6da81edvib91...@4ax.com...
> On 23 Dec 2010 11:00:33 -0800, R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote:
>
>>Steve Hayes filted:
>>>
>>>If you are worsted by someone, it means that that someone got the better
>>>of
>>>you.
>>>
>>>Don't ask me to explain why one is comparative and the other superlative.
>>>They
>>>just ARE.
>>
>>The expression here is "got the best of you", as in the "Dwarf's Yodel
>>Song"
>>from Disney's "Snow White":
>
> I dunno. "Got the better of" is the one that6's more familiar to me.
Indeed. I associate it with Lloyd George's famous intervention in the House
during the Norway debate in May 1940:
"The Prime Minister [Chamberlain] must remember that he has met this
formidable foe of ours [Hitler] in peace and in war. He has always been
worsted".
Regards
Jonathan
mm
I guess it's the opposite of bested.
--
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R H Draney
>
>Indeed. I associate it with Lloyd George's famous intervention in the House
>during the Norway debate in May 1940:
>
>"The Prime Minister [Chamberlain] must remember that he has met this
>formidable foe of ours [Hitler] in peace and in war. He has always been
>worsted".
That's quite a yarn....r
Peter Moylan
a kind of fabric.
--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.
James Hogg
> The subject line keeps fooling me into thinking that the thread is about
> a kind of fabric.
I feel trouble looming here, as bad puns begin to shuttle back and forth
between warped minds, keeping some of the spectators on tenterhooks,
while others have shed their inhibitions and are heckling the contestants.
Anybody who doesn't know a pile of textile terms is bound to be worsted
in this struggle. Twill end in disaster for those who lack fibre.
Have I missed any?
--
James (just teasing)
LFS
You are certainly a card but not shoddy. I wouldn't accuse you of
flannel or of being a denier, although Terry and Serge might be offended
at their omission. I could expand on this but the cloque is ticking.
--
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
James Hogg
Quick work, Laura. You are never caught napping.
--
James
Peter Duncanson (BrE)
wrote:
carding, scutching, and beetling.
--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)
Jonathan Morton
news:if178...@drn.newsguy.com...
Glad you're keeping up with the thread - he said sheepishly.
Jonathan
Jonathan Morton
news:if2eo6$rfp$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> LFS wrote:
>> James Hogg wrote:
>>> Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>> The subject line keeps fooling me into thinking that the thread is
>>>> about
>>>> a kind of fabric.
>>>
>>> I feel trouble looming here, as bad puns begin to shuttle back and forth
>>> between warped minds, keeping some of the spectators on tenterhooks,
>>> while others have shed their inhibitions and are heckling the
>>> contestants.
>>>
>>> Anybody who doesn't know a pile of textile terms is bound to be worsted
>>> in this struggle. Twill end in disaster for those who lack fibre.
>>>
>>> Have I missed any?
>>>
>>
>> You are certainly a card but not shoddy. I wouldn't accuse you of
<applause>
>>although Terry and Serge might be offended
>> at their omission. I could expand on this but the cloque is ticking.
>
> Quick work, Laura. You are never caught napping.
True, but the word underlay isn't as velvety smooth as usual.
Regards
Jonathan
R H Draney
No wool-gatherer I....r
Pat Durkin
"James Hogg" <Jas....@gOUTmail.com> wrote in message
news:if2eo6$rfp$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Keep it up, James. Your rep is growingeven as I post.
Sara Lorimer
He's a good sport.
--
SML
Seattle-ish
Nick
Don't be such a teasel.
--
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