Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[P. G. Tipps]

But isn't all "danger" "potential"; dependent upon circumstances - something isn't dangerous unless brought into proximity with something else. Danger implies risk - the potential for harm; so "potential danger" is a tautology.

Potentially, yes ...

However, a huge hole in the road in front of a speeding car is clearly dangerous and the danger would be actual and not potential.

Not all 'bad driving' or speeding will prove to be dangerous but there is no doubt that it is potentially so!

[Padraig]

- all potential is equal; but some is more equal than other.

Of course. I could potentially crash a car, but it would be impossible for me to play the Art of Fugue.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Not all 'bad driving' or speeding will prove to be dangerous but there is no doubt that it is potentially so!

Um, surely there is bad driving that isn't at all dangerous? Un-dangerous discourtesy/ lack of consideration for example.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

... a huge hole in the road in front of a speeding car is clearly dangerous and the danger would be actual and not potential.

Yes - I see what you mean: a "clear and present danger" - but isn't it also only "potential" in that the driver might be able to avoid it? Might it not be more of a danger to a car travelling at a slower speed if the driver was watching a passing pedestrian they found attractive? (Pondering "aloud" here, you understand.)

Not all 'bad driving' or speeding will prove to be dangerous but there is no doubt that it is potentially so!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Um, surely there is bad driving that isn't at all dangerous? Un-dangerous discourtesy/ lack of consideration for example.

Dangerous to whom? A driver whose concentration has been disturbed by a(nother) discourteous driver might become the cause of a road accident of which the discourteous driver may be completely unaware as s/he drives away in different direction?

[Pabmusic]

Doesn't the first of those need something? We don't know if there was anyone there, and if they were, whether they saw anything, and if they did, whether they could be persuaded to testify. But if it turns out that they were there, and saw, and said so, they were already actual witnesses rather than potential ones, even if we didn't know that when we composed our sentence?...

Well, your first point is good, if a bit pedantic. There's a layer of subtlety in your analysis that many might miss (it is a classic 'nice' point). I suspect it's a distinction rather than a difference for many, who use 'potential' as either a reinforcer, or as 'padding', leaving us with the tautology of 'potential' and 'might'.

[P. G. Tipps]

Um, surely there is bad driving that isn't at all dangerous? Un-dangerous discourtesy/ lack of consideration for example.

That was precisely my point when I said not all bad driving will prove to be dangerous but that all bad driving is potentially so!

Surely discourtesy/lack of consideration is 'bad driving' and is therefore also potentially dangerous?

[jean]

That was precisely my point when I said not all bad driving will prove to be dangerous but that all bad driving is potentially so!

The word 'dangerous' includes within its meaning the concept of potentially causing harm. It's a word we can use when we comment on behaviour which, if circumstances change, might cause harm. It does not mean actuallycausing harm.

Driving dowm the wrong side of the road is dangerous. But if the road is empty and no car approaches in the opposite direction, no harm will come to you or anyone else.

Of course there are some kinds of 'bad' driving which are a good deal less dangerous than others.

.

[jean]

Well, your first point is good, if a bit pedantic. There's a layer of subtlety in your analysis that many might miss (it is a classic 'nice' point). I suspect it's a distinction rather than a difference for many, who use 'potential' as either a reinforcer, or as 'padding', leaving us with the tautology of 'potential' and 'might'.

But my point was that you do need something - the word is not padding!

My subtle analysis was only an attempt to understand why you thought potential might not have been the right word.

[Pabmusic]

But my point was that you do need something - the word is not padding!

My subtle analysis was only an attempt to understand why you thought potential might not have been the right word.

I see, and I do understand. My point (none too well expressed) was that 'potential' and 'potentially' seem to be used by some as padding and therefore lose their meanings.

[P. G. Tipps]

Driving dowm the wrong side of the road is dangerous. But if the road is empty and no car approaches in the opposite direction, no harm will come to you or anyone else..

Therefore, if we know the road is empty and no car approaches in the opposite direction it can hardly be described as 'dangerous'. Certainly ill-advisable and illegal!

The situation you describe is surely most accurately termed 'potentially dangerous'?

Best stick to the correct side of the road, whatever ...

[jean]

No, because 'dangerous' includes the meaning 'potentially producing harm'.

The OED has

Fraught with danger or risk; causing or occasioning danger; perilous, hazardous, risky, unsafe.

Even if you could be sure the road ws empty round the corner where you couldn't see, your driving down the wrong side is correctly described as hazardous, risky, unsafe - even if you succeed in getting away with it.

[Serial_Apologist]

I dislike intensely the expression, "He says it like it is". In this case it was stated by phoner to a radio programme with reference to Donald Trump. I've no idea what saying anything like it is can amount to, but if this caller was saying, along with many of his ilk, that Mr Gump is spelling out otherwise unpalatable truths, then quite clearly nothing could be further from the truth - and I would go so far as to say that the same applies to most of the belligerently obsequious types on the media whom I hear using this phrase.

[P. G. Tipps]

No, because 'dangerous' includes the meaning 'potentially producing harm'.

The OED has


Even if you could be sure the road ws empty round the corner where you couldn't see, your driving down the wrong side is correctly described as hazardous, risky, unsafe - even if you succeed in getting away with it.

Well, logically, that would mean everything in life could be termed 'dangerous'. Not just, say, a pedestrian crossing the road but even just staying in bed (potential heart-attack due to lack of exercise?). My distinction is between actual danger and a potential one.

A woman walking alone down a dark street in a vicinity where a rapist is known to lurk would be in actual danger but in the absence of any known rapist the danger would be potential.

Still, I accept the point that 'danger' would exist in both cases.

[ahinton]

Therefore, if we know the road is empty and no car approaches in the opposite direction it can hardly be described as 'dangerous'. Certainly ill-advisable and illegal!

The situation you describe is surely most accurately termed 'potentially dangerous'?

Best stick to the correct side of the road, whatever ...

...which makes the expression "middle of the road" perhaps even more suspect, whether or not it might set teeth on edge...