ameliorate AIBU?

[LightTheFlameThrower]

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

No idea! Thanks for educating me though :)

I hear it from time to time.

It's certainly a word that I would expect anyone who'd been in Britain during their years at school to be familiar with.

I use it but I get the looks that tell me I am a fucking wanker. English isn't my first language, so I wouldn't have thought my reading age is that great.

I know it, and use it. I also like concatenation! But I wouldn’t say it was common.

@CorianderQueen something close to it iirc. At any rate, there are millions of adults who are 'functionally illiterate'. I can't remember where I last read about this, if I do I'll come back and share the link :)

It’s a word I recognise when reading, as I know what it means. I haven’t often heard it in everyday speech, so I wouldn’t say it’s a common word.

I wouldn't say it's a common word, no. I do know what it means, and I have used it in scientific reports/presentations, as well as essays for uni but I've never used it in conversation. I don't think many people would know what it means.

Ah, I remember my old line manager asking me: 'And what steps have you taken to ameliorate the situation?'

She forgets that I have Google –cos I didn't have a friggin clue (although I could have taken a stab from the context).

I said: 'Hey Mel, I'm considered by many to be the Queen of Amelioration .....

She kinda kept it simple after that.

I have an English degree and write for a living. Never heard it. It may well be that some people use it in work, but not in my newsroom.

@malmi

It is the 10,303rd most common word in the English language. The average English native speaker knows about 20,000 words with university-educated people knowing around 40,000 words.

So yes, going by that, most people would know it.

Source 1: datayze.com/word-analyzer?word=ameliorate

Source 2: www.bellenglish.com/blog/how-many-words-do-you-know/

I don't think you can use that word analyzer as a standard benchmark!

For one, it's an american website so does not reflect UK usage, particularly.

Secondly, if you read how it works, it obtains its rankings via searching Project Gutenberg, so hardly an unbiased source, and only refers to written words in very specific published (and often highly edited) sources. It therefore doesn't reflect how often all people use a word in speech, just how often a small subsection of people write it

Thirdly, 'Project Guternberg' is hardly a realistic representation of how the everyday person understands or uses language! If it trawled through FB, twitter or online forums, maybe...!

For example, I searched words like 'netflix' 'wank' (and 'wanky'), barney (as in to have an argument') 'knobhead' and 'cuppa' - none of which came up with any ranking at all as they were deemed so unusual yet I would put money on being words better known to the British population at large than 'ameliorate.'

For what it's worth, 'bum' (with the same definition as in the UK) is ranked 12,330rd in usage and its understanding rated at collegiate level (e.g. 18 plus, university educated), compared to ameliorate at 10,303rd and with an expectation that it would be understood by the average person with a junior high education (e.g. aged 11-13)

Lies, damned lies, and statistics, etc.....

I'm quite surprised at all the people with essay/reading based degrees who haven't heard of this word.

@JaniceBattersby

I have an English degree and write for a living. Never heard it. It may well be that some people use it in work, but not in my newsroom.

I just Googled and it's used on the BBC website more than once. And The Guardian. Frequently on the FT. But not the Fail unless it's the cream.

Just saying.

It's not particularly common, no, but it is a proper word and I have used it on multiple occasions in work and formal situations, especially in written things.

But if I was talking informally, I would probably say something like "improve" or "mitigate", depending on how in-depth the discussion was and the context of it.

It is not a standard/common word and I think many people would not know what it meant.

I'd use it in a professional setting (a presentation or something) and maybe with people I know well (ie I know they would know the meaning) but not in general chat.

There was a study some years ago which found, for historical reasons, English speakers in the south of England used a greater amount of words derived from Latin/French than those in the north who had retained various Scandinavian derivations unused down here. Is there a north/south split on this?

I had a huge discussion with someone on Facebook who insisted that exponential was a rare word. She also attempted to patronise me ("dearie") and tell me she had 2 whole degrees and had never heard the word.

Just asked my 15yo, she knew what it meant immediately.

No its not a common word. I've never heard anyone use it in conversation.

I wouldn't say it was commonly used, but I would expect people to know what it means.

Then again I'm a professional writer and editor, so I do accept that I'm exposed to more words, more times, than the majority of people.

@longwayoff

There was a study some years ago which found, for historical reasons, English speakers in the south of England used a greater amount of words derived from Latin/French than those in the north who had retained various Scandinavian derivations unused down here. Is there a north/south split on this?

Maybe.

The campaign for plain English includes ameliorate in its list of 'pompous words and jargon that litter official documents' and suggests improve or help as alternatives.

Thinking about it, I'd use remediate as an alternative, which really is an everyday well known word amongst my (professional) peers, but if I enter ameliorate and remediate into MS word and use the synonym function, I get better, perfect, amend, upgrade and enrich as similes but nothing at all for remediate .

It just goes to show how we all exist in bubbles of one type or another.

Not RTFT but thought the discussion was going to be about the beauty brand ;)

It's standard but quite formal.

Degree, Masters, professional qualifications in a senior role. Well read, classics and non fiction. Not seen it before but for years in my industry the move has been to use clear, plain, simple words when explaining concepts and requirements. It feels like a clumsy word and I wouldn't use it.

It seems here that it’s a common word for people who are science based fields or those who are American. I also think ‘improve’ would suffice in most situations where you might use ameliorate.

I’m very well read and educated and I’ve never come across it used in a university or workplace setting in my field and also in any books I’ve read.

We use remediate in my industry, but I would simplyfy that outside of the department.

Thinking about it, it's a bit like 1984! Reducing words used.