Weird, strange, rare, odd

[Alfonso]

Hi forum,

I would like to know the different uses of the English words: weird, strange, rare, odd.

Sure for you, English speakers, the difference is clear. But pay attention to this: In Spanish we use extraño and raro in very similar contexts. Sometime these two words are absolutely interchangeable. Qué hombre más extraño and qué hombre más raro mean the same. The same can be said of qué cosa más extraña / rara; or es muy raro / extraño que ocurra algo así.

In regard to weird and odd, I think there must be connotations we can hardly express in Spanish in a single word.

Will somebody help me? Thanks a lot in advance!

[poli]

rare tiene varios significados en inglés. Lo usamos raramente para significar extraño. Frecuentamente es una palabra positiva. Por ejemplo:
What a rare gemstone, o what a rare (unique) person he is.

Odd tambien tiene varios signifados como impar, o differente, extraño.
Es un sinónomo con extraño pero menos fuerte. Strange puede significar foreign pero tambien significa wierd. Wierd tiene el poder del onomonopea y por eso tiene mas fuerza.

Los jovenes sobreusan wierd aquí, diciendo:
"That's really wierd:, o "Do you want to know something really wierd ? " para cosas que no son especialmente wierd.

Unlike rare, wierd is hardly ever used to describe something in a positive manner. Odd and strange can sometimes be used to mean something good.
Poli

[Iris]

One more word for your list, Alfonso:queer.
Poli, isn't your spelling of weird a bit weird? Is it a typo or just a regional variation?

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot for your answers.

Let's put them in context. Referring to a person:

• He's rare, that's to say, he's unique.
• He's a stranger (?). He's a foreigner.
  • Can I say he's strange?
• He's odd. You will not be able to find somebody like him.
• He's weird. Better not to find somebody like him.
• He's queer. Mmmmm... I beg your pardon...

That's what I understood. Pls, tell me if I'm wrong.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Thanks a lot for your answers.

Let's put them in context. Referring to a person:

• He's rare, that's to say, he's unique.perfect
• He's a stranger (?). He's a foreigner.yes
  • Can I say he's strange?yes, but it means weird
• He's odd. You will not be able to find somebody like him.yes. like an odd number-- sticks out, uneven
• He's weird. Better not to find somebody like him.unless you like Tim Burton
• He's queer. Mmmmm... I beg your pardon...until about 50 years ago
• meant the same thing as weird. Now it means gay which about 50 years ago meant carefree and happy

That's what I understood. Pls, tell me if I'm wrong.

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Como se puede diferenciar entre raro negativo y raro positivo en español

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, Poli. Everything is really clear.

I'm thinking about your question, Poli. I knew you would ask me that.

La palabra raro no tiene ninguna connotación positiva ni despectiva. Pero la realidad es que a casi nadie le gusta que le digan que es raro. Así que si te dicen qué raro eres no es que seas único (rare) sino que eres extraño (weird).

Se puede decir que raro y rare son falsos amigos, pues se parecen pero no significan lo mismo. Para el sentido positivo de rare usamos único.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Thanks a lot for your answers.

Let's put them in context. Referring to a person:

• He's rare, that's to say, he's unique.( yes, he´s one of a kind)
• He's a stranger (?). He's a foreigner. (yes, but also could mean that he´s someone you don´t know, had never met previously, someone you´re not familiar with).
  • Can I say he's strange? (yes, you can, he´s possibly acting strangely : not comfortable / at ease or he´s just unusual, different).
• He's odd. You will not be able to find somebody like him.( not exactly,they´re lots of them, he´s just different)
• He's weird. Better not to find somebody like him.(he´s not exactly harmful, might even turn out to be quite interesting).
• He's queer. Mmmmm... I beg your pardon... (well, we´ll just have to see what Iris says...)

That's what I understood. Pls, tell me if I'm wrong.

rare - correct usage.
stranger - correct usage. he´s a foreigner or you just haven´t met him before.
strange - unusual, different, not familiar.
odd - means strange, unusual, peculiar, different, also used with numbers(numbers that leaves 1 remaining when divided by 2,) e.g: 3, 5, 7.
weird - strange and sometimes scary because considered not normal or natural.
( weirdo : someone who behaves, dresses in an odd or unconventional way - an eccentric person.)
queer - strange, odd, another meaning which might be slightly offensive is homosexual,especially of men.

So, they all mean more or less the same thing but used differently.

[Jane]

I hadn´t read Poli´s post before posting mine but I guess we´re saying the same thing,(more or less).

[Iris]

Both queer and weird might mean homosexual depending on the context. By the way, Poli, did you know in Spanish some people use "rarito" in the same way? (but it's not politically correct, so be careful!)

[poli]

Thanks for the information about rarito, Iris.
Regarding the words weird (I spelt it right this time) and queer: There may
be a difference in the way these two words work depending on what side
of the Atlantic you're on. Lately queer in the US is almost exclusively synonomous with gay. Weird is not. Queer may be use disparagingly(I dont have spell check)in the following manner: He's a queer., and less disparagingly if this manner, He's queer. Do you find this so in British English?

Poli

[Iris]

A queer sounds a lot worse than just queer (it's the same this side of the Atlantic)...

[Alfonso]

Poli, do you mean that he's a queer means he's gay, and he's queer means he's weird?

Another question, what about queer movement? I know not everybody will be affected by it. But I think one of its goal is to change the connotation of the word queer, from an insult to something to be proud of. If you are insulted this way: You, queer! and your answer is: of course, I'm, you are changing the meaning of the word! From a taboo and something politically incorrect, to a compliment.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Poli, do you mean that he's a queer (despective significa un gay) means he's gay, and he's queer(mucho menos despectivo y significa gay) means he's weird tambien significa extraño pero el significado de la palabra está cambiando)-- por eso no lo usa

Another question, what about queer movement? I know not everybody will be affected by it. But I think one of its goal is to change the connotation of the word queer, from an insult to something to be proud of. If you are insulted this way: You, queer! and your answer is: of course, I'm, you are changing the meaning of the word! From a taboo and something politically incorrect, to a compliment.

Si, tiene razón. Una cosa parecida ocurría en los años sesenta con la comunidad afro-americano. Antes de 1965 la palaba black era despectiva.
La palabras respetivas negroe y colored people se pusieron despectivas y
la palabra black se puso respetible. Ahora está cambianodo otra vez.
Black no es despectivo pero African American o person of color
es mas formal y respectivo

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, Poli.
Some small corrections for you:

Originally Posted by poli

Sí, tienes razón. Una cosa parecida ocurría en los años sesenta con la comunidad afro-americana. Antes de 1965 la palaba black era despectiva.
Las palabras negroe y colored people se volvieron despectivas y la palabra black se volvió respetuosa (?). Ahora está cambiando otra vez.
Black no es despectivo pero African American o person of color
es más formal y respetuoso

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, since I've got a little confused by despectivo and respetuoso.