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Chan-Seung Lee
Joined: 03 Dec 2005 Posts: 1032
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Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:43 pm Post subject: pathetic |
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As far as I am concerned, 'pathetic' means 'poor'.
So I think that it means 'You're poor.' But I'm not sure.
Could you tell me what the quotation means and in what situation I can use that?
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scottish_tiger
Joined: 16 Jul 2003 Posts: 90 Location: Scotland
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Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 5:52 am Post subject: |
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You are correct that the phrase "you're pathetic"means that someone is poor at something or lacking in skills to complete a task to an expected standard. However, with thanks to reality television show judges such as Simon Cowell, it has become more than that. It has now become a form of bullying, in a vain attempt to show superiority over another person. I.E. it now comes to mean that a person is stupid, incompetent or a way of making someone feel bad about themselves.
You can read more on that aspect of the phrase at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1017893&clip=1
Hope that this helps with your question
Good luck
Scottish Tiger _________________ I am always happy to help you learn English. |
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