bend over/bend down

[arth...@yahoo.com]

Do you see a difference between 'bending over' and 'bending down'?

I think 'bending over' is bending from the waist.
'Bend down' could include the bending of the knees. 'Crouching' would be a kind of 'bending down'.
So 'bending over' is a subset of 'bending down'.

That is the way I see things, but I am not at all sure I am correct.

What do you think?

Gratefully,
Navi.

[Harrison Hill]

I think you are correct.

[GordonD]

I disagree. I don't see any essential difference between 'bending over'
and 'bending down' and neither involves bending the knees - not much,
anyway. 'Crouching' is something entirely different, also called
'squatting' or (in ScEng) 'on your hunkers'.
--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

[Robert Bannister]

I think "bending down" could involve a knees bend. In the end, it's just
a way of looking at the action. "Bending down" emphasises the downward
movement rather more than "over", although "She bent right over" is
pretty extreme. On the whole, I think I mainly use "over" as a
preposition with "bend", as in "He leant over the rail", but "He bent
down to pick up the coin". Or "bent over" to indicate more a sideways
movement: "She bent over towards me and whispered in my ear".

--
Robert B. born England a long time ago;
Western Australia since 1972

[Snidely]

arth...@yahoo.com pounded on thar keyboard to tell us

Broadly speaking, I'd use "bend over" to imply upper body movement, and
"bend down" to imply reaching for ground (or floor) level. In the case
of touching my toes, both apply.

/dps

--
Killing a mouse was hardly a Nobel Prize-worthy exercise, and Lawrence
went apopleptic when he learned a lousy rodent had peed away all his
precious heavy water.
_The Disappearing Spoon_, Sam Kean

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

I agree. I think "bend over" is (or was, in the days when corporal
punishment still widespread in schools) mainly something to be said to
someone who was about to be caned.


--
athel