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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Sporty or sportive?
Sporty or sportive?
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sashulochka
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Sporty or sportive?
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Hello everybody, I �m wondering if there is a way to differentiate the words sportive and sporty? If a person likes sport or just goes in for sport and as a result has sporty (sportive) body? Thanks for your help))) |
29 Feb 2016
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alien boy
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Sportive is a word I �ve hardly ever heard used. Normally I �d use �an athletic body �.
Cheers,
AB |
29 Feb 2016
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Apodo
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I agree with AB. Someone has an athletic body. Someone who enjoys playing lots of sports or outdoor activities can be called sporty. It �s an informal word. I never use sportive. |
29 Feb 2016
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[email protected]
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After 49 years on this Earth I have never heard (or indeed wish to hear or read it again) the word �sportive �. Obviously an American aberration. |
29 Feb 2016
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alien boy
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Hi�[email protected] it�s actually�not American English, but dates back to Elizabethan times.�These days it�s rather archaic, unless it�s refering to certain cycling events. I have occasionally heard sportive used when describing frolicsome animals. Mind you, I wouldn�t mind betting that it has been used more in American English than British English over the 20th century. Maybe I�ll have to stick it in the Google Ngram viewer & find out! � Cheers, AB�
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29 Feb 2016
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redcamarocruiser
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I agree with Alien Boy that it is not American English. There is an entry in dictionary.com for it but is a meaning other than athletic: playful or frolicsome. I think that sashulochka meant athletic, not playful. |
29 Feb 2016
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sashulochka
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Thank you all for your help. I �ve never used "sportive" but once I heard it from my student. The free dictionary gives such definitions - 1. Playful; frolicsome. 2. Relating to or interested in sports. 3. Archaic Amorous or wanton. The second meaning was confusing for me. Now it �s clear) |
1 Mar 2016
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