TransWikia.com

Differences between "vulgar" and "coarse", "crass", "crude", "rough", "rude", "unrefined" as applied to language

English Language & Usage Asked on December 26, 2020

This question specifically covers how these terms are used to describe language, it is a followup to What's the difference between "informal", "colloquial", "slang", and "vulgar"?

In the former question it arose that vulgar has at least two senses, and perhaps three:

  • “of the people” as in Vulgar Latin (not considered to be a productive sense anymore)
  • an antonym to “refined” as used to label words in various dictionaries
  • a synonym for “obscene” or “offensive” – I take this sense to be newer and perhaps regional to America – but it does seem to be replacing sense 2

So my question is how do these other words overlap in meaning with the 2nd and 3rd senses above: “coarse”, “crass”, “crude”, “rough”, “rude”, “unrefined”?

2 Answers

I looked up each and everyone of their meanings, and they all had meanings of "crude, unrefined", and when I looked up "unrefined" it had the meaning of "crude".

So I looked up "crude", and came up with:

Lacking tact or taste/Lacking concealing elements.

Basically, they all mean the same thing, and that is, just not being tactful, and putting things in an unpleasant way.

In their relation to the third and second senses above, they are all as I said, an antonym of refined, but it does not necessarily mean these words denote "obscenity". They may be offensive, yes, or unpleasant, but "obscenity" includes much worse things like blasphemy, or cursing, or highly derogatory terms, whereas your list of words lean more to being dysphemistic.

Answered by Thursagen on December 26, 2020

These words simply mean - what they normally mean!!

vulgar -- common, non-elite

coarse -- not detailed (think of a coarse, versus fine, handsaw, for example)

crass -- impolite, unrestrained

crude -- simplistic, uneducated (think of a crudely built object)

rough -- aggressive, overly direct, hurtful to the listener

rude -- using swear words; impolite to the listener

unrefined -- so, not refined! not polished, not edited, not educated; in a more raw state.

When you are using words like these to describe something abstract such as language: think of how the word applies to a physical object. With for example "crude" think of a crudely built say table, rather than a finely-made artisanal table.

By bringing your abstract use of a word, back to the physical use, you can greatly strengthen your language usage.

Answered by Fattie on December 26, 2020

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question

Get help from others!

© 2024 TransWikia.com. All rights reserved. Sites we Love: PCI Database, UKBizDB, Menu Kuliner, Sharing RPP