Talk:blinding

Adverb

Sadly, I still feel obliged to argue the adverb point. In the latest example sentence:

I was in a nightmare, and everything was blinding bright, inky black, blinding bright; and fading, and fading

The verb in both clauses is "was". "Blinding" is an adjective that modifies "bright", just as "inky" modifies "black". That's my opinion, anyway. -- Pinkfud 12:04, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Aargh. certain 'details' of 'scientifically realized socialism' became blinding obvious

Doggone it, diagram that. Subject: Details. Verb: Became. Object: Obvious. Blinding does not and cannot modify became. Anyway, it ought to be "blindingly" in that sentence. -- Pinkfud 12:14, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Adverbs can modify adjectives. There are numerous citations of "blinding obvious", especially in UK newspapers. DCDuring TALK 12:49, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree with that first part. What I don't see is what verb can be directly modified by blinding such that blinding clearly assumes the adverb role. What action can it describe? -- Pinkfud 12:59, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I can't either, but its ability to modify adjectives is sufficient. I think of it as literary or colloquial. DCDuring TALK 14:59, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

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blinding

Rfv-sense: I really can't think of any verb that could be modified properly by this. Certainly not in the sense given by the example sentence, where it's clearly an adjective. -- Pinkfud 11:10, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

cited. Easier to find adjectives. Please inspect. DCDuring TALK 12:09, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Umm, did you read the article's talk page? Sorry, but I still disagree on this one. -- Pinkfud 12:16, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Well, I read the talk page also. The problem is that, if people are using blinding to modify adjectives, much as I dislike it, the PoS is Adverb, whether or not anyone can find an example of "blinding + verb". BTW, I agree that I, personally, cannot see any reason to stop using blindingly. -- ALGRIF talk 13:10, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Well, languages do evolve, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. I tutored English Comp at the University of Southern Colorado from 1981-83, but that makes me an "oldster". In my day (oldster phrase), I would have poured some red ink over this usage. But if you guys think it's valid now, I'll defer and shut up. -- Pinkfud 13:36, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to actually use it, except to add a little color to a conversation. I don't know exactly what tags this needs. I should have cited it using the UK newspapers, because that gives a better idea of a colloquial usage. DCDuring TALK 15:05, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Could it be a synonym for "bleeding"? I have added that as a sense, with three cites. Please take a look especially if you speak right-pondian. DCDuring TALK 15:19, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm left-pond, but I think those "blinding obvious" cites (all 3) still carry the "to an extreme degree" sense, as in "blindingly obvious" (glaringly, blatantly obvious). However, interestingly enough, this connotation may have made blinding a more semantically attractive substitute for bleeding, since one is usually trying to convey a sense of "extremely" that is not naturally present in the common vulgar intensifiers (bleeding obvious; fucking obvious). I note also that (deprecated template usage) bleeding doesn't currently have an adverb sense. I suggest combining the new cites to the first adverb sense and making an etymological note that the adverb sense (lacking the -ly) was influenced by the colloquial language pattern of bleeding. -- Thisis0 20:56, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to await more comment. The meanings are similar. The issue is whether native right-pondians perceive it as a substitute for "bleeding". We need multiple views. The cites for "blinding obvious" seem to be almost entirely UK and have a more colloquial, contemporary flavor than the others. DCDuring TALK 21:44, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

You're possibly correct, DCD. I'm right-pond, and I'm old-school (which is why I don't like it much either, Pinkfud) and I haven't actually come across this usage. But if it's in print, then it cannot be denied. -- ALGRIF talk 16:14, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

RFD passed. I didn't see any indication of blood, so I removed the definition of "bleeding". Is that a synonym in the UK? DAVilla 20:20, 18 April 2009 (UTC)