Stircrazy wrote:

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steven wrote:

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Seems a bit odd that it's turning out quite so badly - I wonder if there is any reason why fields might be more deceptively strong at this time of year [...]

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Don't you mean "deceptively weak", Steven? 

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Ah, I meant stronger than it looks. It turns out we aren't the only people to find potential ambiguity here. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deceptively says:

"When deceptively is used to modify an adjective, the meaning is often unclear. Does the sentence The pool is deceptively shallow mean that the pool is shallower or deeper than it appears? When the Usage Panel was asked to decide, 50 percent thought the pool shallower than it appears, 32 percent thought it deeper than it appears, and 18 percent said it was impossible to judge. Thus a warning notice worded in such a way would be misinterpreted by many of the people who read it, and others would be uncertain as to which sense was intended. Where the context does not make the meaning of deceptively clear, the sentence should be rewritten, as in The pool is shallower than it looks or The pool is shallow, despite its appearance."

So I went with the 50% (without realising, obviously!)

 

 

steven wrote:

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Stircrazy wrote:

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steven wrote:

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Seems a bit odd that it's turning out quite so badly - I wonder if there is any reason why fields might be more deceptively strong at this time of year [...]

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Don't you mean "deceptively weak", Steven? 

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Ah, I meant stronger than it looks. It turns out we aren't the only people to find potential ambiguity here. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/deceptively says:

"When deceptively is used to modify an adjective, the meaning is often unclear. Does the sentence The pool is deceptively shallow mean that the pool is shallower or deeper than it appears? When the Usage Panel was asked to decide, 50 percent thought the pool shallower than it appears, 32 percent thought it deeper than it appears, and 18 percent said it was impossible to judge. Thus a warning notice worded in such a way would be misinterpreted by many of the people who read it, and others would be uncertain as to which sense was intended. Where the context does not make the meaning of deceptively clear, the sentence should be rewritten, as in The pool is shallower than it looks or The pool is shallow, despite its appearance."

So I went with the 50% (without realising, obviously!)

 

 

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Interesting one.

My thoughts would be along with SC that "deceptively weak" is appropriate here.

Found this  http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25013/how-should-deceptively-actually-be-used

and again my / the SC line was the minority viewpoint in the discussion, but I'm with Ryan Reich and his arguement towards his belief that : 

"X is deceptively Y" means that X has less of the quality Y than it appears. 

 

I thiink that discussion though is basically an American discussion anyway, which probably diiqualifies it in SC's mind from the start    

-- Edited by indiana on Thursday 20th of October 2011 11:01:55 PM

I've always read/used the word "deceptively" in the sense Steven did but it's obvious that SC is right, too. Time to stop using it altogether, I think.

-- Edited by Salmon on Friday 21st of October 2011 03:44:07 AM

From The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (1993 edition - the only version in the office's possession!):

deceptive, adjective - Apt or tending to deceive; giving a false impression; easily mistaken for something else or as having a different quality.

deceptively, adverb - in such a way as to (be apt) to deceive.

I rest my case.