Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

Is "distend" a rather specialised word that is not used a lot in every day English? Does it also imply that the swelling is not a normal condition? Is that why the following sentence sounds a little bit strange?

Children with distended bellies love wrestling.

Thank you,

Nawee

[Mallaien]

I think Distended is used to discribe a abnormal condition.

definition: 2. swollen, by or as by internal pressure, out of normal size or shape; protuberant.

[LucentShade]

When I hear the phrase "distended belly," I think of pregnant women, so I would say that "distended" is not a natural word choice in that sentence. You could say, "Fat/Chubby/Pudgy children love wrestling." Of those three words I suggested for the start of the sentence, chubby and pudgy are less offensive. This brings me to a sidenote that I wanted to mention:

[Mallaien]

Yea i'm not perfect. Its an old habit from posting on forums with friends. I am relearning some things, and spend alot of the time editing before my post is final. In that case, I missed something.

I welcome any help, sometimes discussions with other native speakers will help the student in the long run.
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[ClarissaMach]

I guess these mistakes are not so important, and people will understand that they are only small mistakes that happens due to quick typing.

Yeah, I'm not perfect. It's an old habit from posting on forums with friends. I am relearning some things, and spend a lot of the time editing before my post is final. In that case, I missed something.

I welcome any help, sometimes discussions with other native speakers will help the student in the long run.


By the way, may I add you on yahoo messenger, Mallaien?
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