英语笔记(一)：Difference Between Shy & Bashful_夜晚的阳光

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英语笔记(一)：Difference Between Shy & Bashful

(2009-01-17 15:54:15)

标签：

校园

分类：英语笔记

到WSE上课，有上到shy和bashful两个单词，都是害羞的意思，很好奇两个单词的区别，遗憾的是外教也讲不清区别，无奈只能求助网络，从而看到了相当有趣的讨论，记录如下：

Someone asked：

Hello! What's the difference between bashful and shy?
I have looked up a dictionary. I am still in the dark.

eg. I was ___when he complimented me.
A: bashful
B: shy
Which one is better? Why? Thank you.

(呵呵，我猜想这个人可能是想我这样的非英语母语国家的小孩子问的吧。感觉很有可能是中国人，典型的chinglish,是吧？)

Others followed:

First one said:

mtmjr

From OED:

Shy 2. Easily frightened away; difficult of approach owing to timidity, caution, or distrust; timidly or cautiously averse to encountering or having to do with some specified person or thing; suspicious, distrustful.

Bashful 2. Of persons: Shrinking from publicity, shamefaced, shy. Sometimes used in a good or neutral sense = Sensitively modest in demeanour; sometimes depreciatively = Excessively self-conscious, embarrassed and ill at ease in society, ‘sheepish.’

I've italicized the important parts with which to make a distinction. "Shy" is more out of a sense of fear, while "Bashful" is more out of self-consciousness or embarassment.

So, I would say the answer to your question depends on the nature of the person receiving the compliment.

...Just to clarify though, "bashful" is generally not used in common speech...it's just not very common.

The second:

Nymeria

I don't think that there is that big a difference between "shy" and "bashful". I would not use either word in that sentence since they imply consistent personality traits, not only a feeling at a given moment in time.

I also would not use the word "was" in the sentence. I would use the word "felt" to indicate that the feeling was temporary and resulted from the compliment. If you use the word "was", it implies that, generally speaking, during that period of your life, you were a shy individual and you received a compliment at some point during this shy phase.
(到关键了)
I think you want to say, "I felt embarrassed/self-conscious/blushy http://forum.wordreference.com/images/smilies/wink.gif when he complimented me."

The third one:

Dimcl

I think that the problem is the sentence. One does not "become" bashful or shy. You are bashful or shy by nature. The word usually used in the context you've given is "embarrassed".

another one:

KayDeeAy

I agree that in that sentence, neither bashful nor shy would sound right. I think self-conscious would work or say I blushed when he complimented me. Embarassed - maybe.

summarize:

mtmjr again

Due to my shy/bashful nature, I blushed when he complimented me.
Due to my shy/bashful nature, I became embarassed when he complimented me.

Yet another vote in agreement that shy/bashful really do not work in the example.

Ｉgot it.两个单词都是表示害羞，不是表示害羞这一个行为，而是天性害羞这一种性格，因此，不能说别人的话语或者行为使我shy or bashful，而是用Due to my shy/bashful nature, 另外，shy 为常用词，特别口语中常用，而bashful口语也许不是很常用,并偶尔的有贬义的含义，而当需要表达他人导致害羞则要使用blush(涨红脸)或者embarrassed(局促不安的)或者self-conscious(自觉？？？)，而且一般不用was因为过去式往往暗示那段时间你的状态就是这样的，表示这种情况是持续一段时间的，而不是一时的感受，也就是可能暗示你当时有这这样的缺陷。可能让人觉得不够polite。而用felt比较中肯。

很喜欢这个可爱的网站，记录一下,下次有问题我也去问，呵呵.

http://forum.wordreference.com/

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