Usage - bare, bared, bore?

[Zeitgeist]

The past tense of bare is bared, right? Not bore?

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and bared her breasts to the light of the moon.

Sounds off to me, I want to say bore, but I don't think that is right. Thanks

[Lord Mayerling]

That is the correct usage of bared, the past tense of bare.

[Zeitgeist]

That is the correct usage of bared, the past tense of bare.

Yeah, I'm seeing that now, the more I dig. I guess I'll just have to live with it sounding funny to my ears. After all, it is correct, lol.

[Star Safyre]

To say she bore her breasts would mean her boobs find her dull or that she drilled holes in them.  If she got naked, she bared them.   :-)

/Englishteacher

[Zeitgeist]

To say she bore her breasts would mean her boobs find her dull or that she drilled holes in them.  If she got naked, she bared them.   :-)

/Englishteacher

LOL I know. I got it right teach ;D

I must be thinking of another unrelated usage...bearing a burden. His whole life he bore the burden of tragic accident.

Please tell me you have a paddle, teach ;D

[Star Safyre]

Corporal punishment isn't my style.  I'm all about the positive reinforcement.  ;)

Yes, you were thinking of carrying a burden.  So if she had very heavy breasts that found her dull so she drilled holes in them, she would have bore them in all senses of the word.   *chuckle*

[Zeitgeist]

Corporal punishment isn't my style.  I'm all about the positive reinforcement.  ;)

Yes, you were thinking of carrying a burden.  So if she had very heavy breasts that found her dull so she drilled holes in them, she would have bore them in all senses of the word.   *chuckle*

Oh, well they aren't quite that big and are in fact quite lovely I assure you. There will be no boring, or need of bores. Bared it is ;D

[Beguile's Mistress]

Could you say:  "...she lay bare her breasts..." as an alternative?

[Zeitgeist]

Could you say:  "...she lay bare her breasts..." as an alternative?

Oh, I like that.

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and lay bare her breasts before the light of the moon.

Gods that's exciting. LOL

[Beguile's Mistress]

I think it's a little more lyrical. :-)

[Zeitgeist]

This is wholly self serving of me, but would a sticky thread devoted to questions of grammar be in order? I know for myself, I like to bounce off these short questions of usage and grammar, and it would seem to make sense to me to have a devoted thread, rather than post a new one for each question? I'd post it in Literary Discussion, but that board doesn't seem to get the same number of eyes, you know?

[Oniya]

Bore is also the past tense of to bear (as in to carry).  If she had been endowed with a G-cup, you might indeed say she 'bore' her breasts - with an air of long suffering.

[Zeitgeist]

Bore is also the past tense of to bear (as in to carry).  If she had been endowed with a G-cup, you might indeed say she 'bore' her breasts - with an air of long suffering.

Hmm. That would afford more real estate for the cuniform scripts painted upon her breasts; odes and prayers to Nanna. But I'm getting ahead of myself. ;D

Thank you all.

[Caeli]

This is wholly self serving of me, but would a sticky thread devoted to questions of grammar be in order? I know for myself, I like to bounce off these short questions of usage and grammar, and it would seem to make sense to me to have a devoted thread, rather than post a new one for each question? I'd post it in Literary Discussion, but that board doesn't seem to get the same number of eyes, you know?

I think that questions get more attention if they're posted in single threads (new ones for each new question) rather than in a thread devoted to the subject. Plus, as its own topic, you can specify your question in the title itself, so that members who have no interest in the question will not be bothered to check and see if they can help, while those who can help can see that at a glance.

Stickies should be things that people should read, and/or for important issues, and at this point, I think the Help forum has more than enough.

[Haibane]

Oh, I like that.

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and lay bare her breasts before the light of the moon.

Gods that's exciting. LOL

It's also a different tense. If you're writing in the past tense, simple or perfect then "she bared" is more correct. "She lay bare..." would be one of the forms of present tense (simple, I think) and would technically be incorrect.

The incorrect mixing of tenses is a thing that bothers me more than mis-spellings.

[Caeli]

I think using "laid bare" would correct the tense issue, if I'm not mistaken.

[Avis habilis]

I think you're right. She might lay her bare breasts on something - why she would do that is left as an exercise for the reader - but if she's exposing herself she would have "laid bare".

[Vandren]

I think using "laid bare" would correct the tense issue, if I'm not mistaken.

Yep.  That is correct.

/English prof currently teaching remedial grammar this term  (grrrr)

[Beguile's Mistress]

Thank you all for the grammar nudges. 

I hadn't looked at that side of it and was only offering a more elegant way of saying what needed to be said as I prefer elegance any day of the week. 

[Zeitgeist]

Ah! See I just took Beguile's Mistress word for it, by reputation alone ;)

So we have:

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and laid bare her breasts before the light of the moon.

And, I just wanted to say it again ;D

[Beguile's Mistress]

I do like it, too.  It's more in the nature of an offering than an aggressive showing.

[jouzinka]

Do you insist on bare in whatever form, Zam? :-)

[Zeitgeist]

Do you insist on bare in whatever form, Zam? :-)

Well one might assume her raiment fell to gather at her feet, but no, I imagined they caught around her curvaceous hips ;D

[Malina]

Maybe she also bore her breasts in the sense of enduring/carrying/supporting them (-> bear, bore, borne) ? ;D

[jouzinka]

Well one might assume her raiment fell to gather at her feet, but no, I imagined they caught around her curvaceous hips ;D

No, not my trail of thought at all, I was just thinking that "bare" was such a harsh word.

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and unveiled her bosom (personal preference) to the silver light of the moon.

In that case and as a matter of personal preference, I'd probably re-work the "to the silver light of the moon" part as well to "under the soft silvery moonlight" or something to that effect. ;)

[Zeitgeist]

No, not my trail of thought at all, I was just thinking that "bare" was such a harsh word.

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and unveiled her bosom (personal preference) to the silver light of the moon.

In that case and as a matter of personal preference, I'd probably re-work the "to the silver light of the moon" part as well to "under the soft silvery moonlight" or something to that effect. ;)

Personally I think that borders on purple-prose. I considered ...by the pale light of the moon. but even that seems a tad trite. I don't know if it's necessary to describe the nature of the moon's light, unless it happened to depart from the usual. That's just my style though.

[jouzinka]

Goodness! I forgot that the "silver" was my addition and not your original one. XD I really need to go to bed...

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and unveiled her bosom to the moonlight.

/my2cents

Off to bed. ;)

[Zeitgeist]

Goodness! I forgot that the "silver" was my addition and not your original one. XD I really need to go to bed...

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and unveiled her bosom to the moonlight.

/my2cents

Off to bed. ;)

I think that's just it though! Let the reader to the heavy lifting for you. Their imagination will fill in detail where detail by the writer isn't necessary. Of course, sometimes it is though.

[HockeyGod]

I feel sorry for this woman's breasts...jeepers they've been bored, bared and much more in this thread!  ::)

[Zeitgeist]

I feel sorry for this woman's breasts...jeepers they've been bored, bared and much more in this thread!  ::)

Fear not, I can assure you the priestess' breasts will be handled with care and due reverence ;D

[Stone]

She bored her breasts
So they left.
She tore her b...

Uh, nevermind. O:)

[Haibane]

*agrees with the 'laid bare' tense structure*

*in fact agrees with the baring of breasts in any tense*

I'm one to keep the prose very simple and avoid the flowery stuff, it can appear way too trite way too easily. I like complex sentence structure and tricks like double entendres and similies and so on but the actual floweryness I always avoid.

"The priestess unfastened her garment and laid bare her upper body in the moonlight," would suffice for me.

/personal take

[Zeitgeist]

As fare as double entendres and similes go -

Nanna the Wise, personified to his worshipers as the moon with his many faces.

[Vandren]

As fare as double entendres and similes go -

Nanna the Wise, personified to his worshipers as the moon with his many faces.

The term "by" would make more sense than "to", since the worshipers are the ones performing the personifying.  That said, "personified" isn't quite the correct word here (as it means "to make like a person", rough definition; in this case the "person" is being made like an object).  Maybe something like: "symbolized by the moon amongst his worshipers because of [due to?] his many faces"?  Or "represented by his worshipers as the moon . . ."

[Zeitgeist]

The term "by" would make more sense than "to", since the worshipers are the ones performing the personifying.  That said, "personified" isn't quite the correct word here (as it means "to make like a person", rough definition; in this case the "person" is being made like an object).  Maybe something like: "symbolized by the moon amongst his worshipers because of [due to?] his many faces"?  Or "represented by his worshipers as the moon . . ."

I think you have a point there. Though I think personified still can work and is relevant. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/personified. There is more than one definition after all.

How about:

Nanna the Wise, personified as the moon to his worshipers with his many faces.

Now that is a fragment, or at least sounds like one. The full sentence follows (with the correction).

The one man she would submit to: Nanna the Wise, personified as the moon to his worshipers with his many faces.

[Vandren]

Nanna the Wise, personified as the moon to his worshipers with his many faces.

Hmm, I'm thinking that's not a fragment.  It has a subject, it has a verb ("personified").  Besides which, fragments are not necessarily a bad thing, when used sparingly and purposely (especially in fiction).  However, the "full sentence" form helps in that it provides context.

[GothicFires]

Nanna the Wise, personified to his worshipers as the moon with his many faces.

This sentence is a fragment because of the comma but even if you removed the comma it wouldn't be worded the best. I would correct it as either"

Nanna the wise, with his many faces, personified to his worshipers as the moon.

or

Nanna the wise, personified to his many worshipers as the moon because of his many faces, <enter verb and rest of sentence here>.

[Story Tale]

Ahh what tangled webs we weave when first we learn to speak the English language. ;)

I know this isn't an example of one, but just out of curiosity, do all languages have as many homophones, or do we (English speakers) just like to make things extremely difficult?

[Oniya]

Well, the initial bear/bare confusion would be a homophone... I think some of the Oriental languages have a fairly large number of homophones, to the point of making pun-based character names fairly easy.  I'm not aware of as many in the Western languages I know.

[Beguile's Mistress]

bare/bear ~

Bare with me.

~ or ~

Bear with me.

[Story Tale]

Hehe, I make a play on that one in my rp preference page.. :P But I meant rather that bare and bored were not homophones.


I like people to bear me, as long as they don't drop me as my ass is bare and I'm afraid that the bear will bite it.

[Beguile's Mistress]

*giggles*

[Avis habilis]

The number one threat to America?



/threadjack

[Haibane]

Hells, bells, does that guy dye his hair or what?

This is all well and good, but there needs to be another 'p' in 'worshippers'.

...and, no, that's not a request for water sports...

[Story Tale]

;D

[Zeitgeist]

This sentence is a fragment because of the comma but even if you removed the comma it wouldn't be worded the best. I would correct it as either"

Nanna the wise, with his many faces, personified to his worshipers as the moon.

or

Nanna the wise, personified to his many worshipers as the moon because of his many faces, <enter verb and rest of sentence here>.

Yes, that first one does flow much better. So the full sentence would be:

The one man she would submit to: Nanna the wise, with his many faces, personified to his worshipers as the moon.

Or at least I presume that is correct usage of a colon. No, that is not a request for scat.

[GothicFires]

Yes, that first one does flow much better. So the full sentence would be:

The one man she would submit to: Nanna the wise, with his many faces, personified to his worshipers as the moon.

Or at least I presume that is correct usage of a colon. No, that is not a request for scat.

Sorry.. no.

In your new sentence 'The one man she would submit to' is still a fragment and does not connect to the rest of the sentence.  The main action is his personification not her submission.

you could arrange them together either

The one man she would submit to was Nanna the wise, personified to his many worshipers as the moon because of his many faces.

or

Nanna the wise, personified to his many worshipers as the moon because of his many faces, was the only man she would submit to.

I would use the word only instead of one.
My advice is always start with the simplest sentence to get across your point and then add to that. What you are trying to say is that   'The one man she would submit to was Nana.' That he is wise or even worshiped is secondary to the point. After you have the sentence that gets the point of the paragraph across then add the 'fluff.'

[Story Tale]

@Haibane and Zeitgeist..

You two are killing me and no that is not a request for hard vore.

;D

[Vandren]

Ahh what tangled webs we weave when first we learn to speak the English language. ;)

I know this isn't an example of one, but just out of curiosity, do all languages have as many homophones, or do we (English speakers) just like to make things extremely difficult?

Oh, we use a heavily bastardized language.  :)  One reason for our homophones is that our language was heavily influenced by Gaelic (at least three forms), Norman French (a bastardized mix of Old French and Old Norse), and Anglo-Saxon.  Then the Great Vowel Shift came along and changed out pronunciation of vowels.

[Oniya]

Then the Great Vowel Shift came along and changed out pronunciation of vowels.

Also not a request for scat.  ;)

[Beguile's Mistress]

Again no scat.
What do you tell the cat?
This thread is a hoot.
Okay.  Gotta scoot.

[Story Tale]

*snickers* I wish my English teacher had made these sort of non requests.

[Oniya]

Again no scat.
What do you tell the cat?
This thread is a hoot.
Okay.  Gotta scoot.

And in clerihew, no less.

[Beguile's Mistress]

*laughs*  I learned about it in high school but wasn't thinking (consciously) of the form when I wrote it.  Thanks for noticing.

[Izzie Aditi]

Language question for you from a non-native speaker. I keep hearing Americans say *whole entire* like "whole entire time/body etc". If I did that in my native tongue, it would be a tautology (I sure as hell hope I translated that correctly). Is whole entire (the same in my book) an exception of some kind or merely used together to stress and emphasize the "wholeness"? Or are the people saying that (I hear it all the time on tv) just failing dramatically?

[Caeli]

It's just slang. I'd guess that it's to emphasize "entire" rather than whole, though.

[GothicFires]

*whole entire* is redundant, repeating the same thing twice. It's an example of bad grammar that one gets used to as they grow up and find it difficult to change. I've never used the words 'whole entire' in my whole entire life (oops) but I say things like 'i'm going to fix dinner' well dinner was never broken as it didn't exist to be broken. It should be 'I'm going to make dinner' but I never say it correctly even though I cringe when the word fix comes out of my mouth.  :-[

[Story Tale]

In New Orleans they have some very cute grammatical errors, one of my favorites might be that they say when someone is going to the grocery store to buy groceries, they are going to "go make groceries." Don't ask me how you make groceries but in New Orleans, that's what you do.

[Zeitgeist]

*whole entire* is redundant, repeating the same thing twice. It's an example of bad grammar that one gets used to as they grow up and find it difficult to change. I've never used the words 'whole entire' in my whole entire life (oops) but I say things like 'i'm going to fix dinner' well dinner was never broken as it didn't exist to be broken. It should be 'I'm going to make dinner' but I never say it correctly even though I cringe when the word fix comes out of my mouth.  :-[

That's the problem with learning a language. You don't truly learn it until you've been immersed into it for a suitable period of time.

[Haibane]

Shouldn't it be "personified by his worshippers..."? Since it is the worshippers who are doing the personification.

Also, must dash, I can feel another great vowel shift coming on...!

[Zeitgeist]

Shouldn't it be "personified by his worshippers..."? Since it is the worshippers who are doing the personification.

Also, must dash, I can feel another great vowel shift coming on...!

You're probably right. Could perhaps go either way. Incidentally worshipers can be spelled with one 'p' or two, either is correct.

I decided to dispense with 'personified' altogether in favor of a more straight forward sentence.

The priestess let slip the raiment from her shoulders and laid bare her breasts before the light of the moon. Nanna, he was know as, with his many faces and the one man she would submit to.

[Ty]

To reference the earlier subject of the thread, for some reason I like the idea of a lady 'disclosing' her breast, if the moon or it's light are being anthropomorphized.

[Haibane]

It would seem that "worshipped" is the English spelling but "worshiped" is the U.S. English spelling. They're not interchangable (like colour and color). Another American spelling I wasn't aware of. New thing learned for today!

[Zeitgeist]

It would seem that "worshipped" is the English spelling but "worshiped" is the U.S. English spelling. They're not interchangable (like colour and color). Another American spelling I wasn't aware of. New thing learned for today!

How is it they are not interchangeable? The certainly mean the same thing. One would only want to be consistent of course.

[Haibane]

I meant if you're a United States national, writing a piece to be published in America, its one 'p'. If you're British and writing a piece to be published in Britain you use two.

In the same way that being British and writing the Queen's English, 'color' is a wrong spelling, while in the USA it's correct.

[Oreo]

I find myself using both variations of English, American and British. The colour comes in handy when I want a more formal sounding character.