ameliorate AIBU?

[LightTheFlameThrower]

Is this really a standard word that most people know? (I thought it was a typo)

I don’t think it is a common word. I have never seen it before and have no idea what it means.

@Lougle honestly I would think it very odd if I said to you oh how was your hotel stay and you replied saying ‘ The room was draughty, but this was ameliorated by the use of oil filled radiators.’

It doesn’t sound like a ‘normal’ conversation to me.

I'm going to go into work in an hour and will tell my colleagues we need to ameliorate this shit hole of an office.

[quote ForeverAintEnough]@Lougle honestly I would think it very odd if I said to you oh how was your hotel stay and you replied saying ‘ The room was draughty, but this was ameliorated by the use of oil filled radiators.’

It doesn’t sound like a ‘normal’ conversation to me.[/quote]
Maybe, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a letter.

@Honeyroar

It not a common word but I immediately knew what it meant as it’s very like the Italian word for improve.

In English, most people would use the English word for improve too, or maybe solve or overcome.

There you have 3 words that just about everyone IRL would use instead of ameliorate.

It's not quite like improve, though. It's more like 'undo damage'.

Totally normal word IMO.

I think the people saying it is a common word don't have much understanding or interaction with the "average" person and their vocabulary. Not saying that in a demeaning way, just as fact.

There is a thread on here about how a huge amount of people don't know words like "baubles" or "chest of drawers"

There is a "plain english" function on word that we have to use in work when issuing reports or letters to people - it suggests we alter words like "nominal" or "objective" so, no, "ameliorate" is far from common!!!

I know the word (classical education) but wouldn’t use it in a million years. I’m a big fan of plain English.

I know it and have occasionally seen it in written reports. Haven't heard it used orally.

I have at the back of my mind that it s used more widely in American English but I may be wrong.

I don't think it's the sort of word I use much in casual conversation and I can completely see how lots of people who don't read or write much in their daily life wouldn't know it, but it's used so frequently in so many contexts, I can't imagine anyone who read a lot (or taught English or did a degree in English) not knowing it. It wouldn't even occur to me it was an unusual word. I mentioned this thread to everyone in the household and they all knew it too.

It's a pretty standard word in my view. Not the kind of word that you hear every day, perhaps, but not at all obscure. It's the kind of word that I'd assume most adults would understand - wrongly, by the looks of this thread.

And I also think the problem with knowing something is you just know it, so it doesn't seem unusual to you. 'Ameliorate' is a word I don't remember learning or looking up or struggling to remember the meaning of, so as far as I'm concerned it's just as normal as any other word.

Totally common word used in everyday conversation 🤷‍♀️

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow

Oh for goodness sake. I despair! Does no one read any literature anymore?!

It is a relatively common word but I admit you hardly hear it now. I use it just to keep it going. I suspect there are hundreds of words that will vanish because we are all told to write in plain and simple English now

@Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow I agree. This thread is really shocking to me in that so many people have never heard of this word. Ameliorate has been in my vocab since (American) high school English classes. I still use it today usually in the context of “How do we ameliorate this situation?” But like @Twillow said, I’ve come to the sobering realization that lots of British people have poor vocabularies and grammar skills. 🤷🏻‍♀️

BTW, like another poster I also thought this thread was going to be about how do we ameliorate AIBU as a board and I was thoroughly disappointed when I started reading it. 😕

I know it, I've know it since school.
I would be unlikely to use it at work (I'm not in a literary profession) partly because I work with many people for whom English is not a first language. I would avoid using it in a situation where the intended audience might not know what it meant/ and or might feel I was being patronising if I used a word they didn't understand, such as a performance management document.

I wouldn't be surprised to read it in a broadsheet but I would be surprised to hear it on the early evening TV news.

Not common but one that I would use if it was appropriate.

It’s a word I use fairly often!

I'd be surprised if someone who reads a fair bit didn't know it. It's not in daily conversation but I wouldn't regard it as obscure.

Yes I wondered if people were going to suggest ways to improve AIBU too 😄.

@JingsMahBucket

BTW, like another poster I also thought this thread was going to be about how do we ameliorate AIBU as a board and I was thoroughly disappointed when I started reading it. 😕

That was my first thought too!

But my disapointment has been ameliorated by playing on that Word Analyzer site linked to earlier, getting rankings of words I like. Aegis coming in strong at 15,768! Poor old Obfuscate doesn't even get a ranking.

I know the word but I don't think it's common as in 'general knowledge'.

I do think it's common in certain workplaces where it's standard process lingo.

I don't think it is a particularly commonly known or used word. In fact I would go so far as to suggest it is recondite {grin}. Isn't the average UK reading age c9 years? Other than the genius spawn of mumsnetters, how many 9 year olds know and use the word 'ameliorate'?

The average reading age is 9?! Really??