2020-11-11
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน ชุด N – Near & close
การใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ ที่ถือว่า ถูกต้องนี้ เป็นไปตามมาตรฐานการใช้ภาษา
การใช้คำอังกฤษ ไม่กำหนดมาตฐาน ถือตามส่วนใหญ่ที่ใช้แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจยืดหยุ่น ขึ้นอยู่กับ ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com
ออกเสียง Near = ‘NEER’
ออกเสียง close - verb = ‘KHOLZ’ - adj-adv = ‘KLOHS’
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree
close
to shut; bring to an end: It’s time to close the meeting.
Not to be confused with:
clothes – wearing apparel; garments:
Choose the proper clothes for the occasion.
Dictionary.com
SYNONYM STUDY FOR CLOSE
Close, shut mean to cause something not to be open.
Close suggests blocking an opening or vacant place: to close a breach in a wall.
The word shut refers especially to blocking or barring openings intended for entering and leaving: to shut a door, gate, etc.,
and close can be used in this sense, too:
to close a door, gate, etc.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Choose the Right Synonym for close
Verb
CLOSE, END, CONCLUDE, FINISH, COMPLETE, TERMINATE
mean to bring or come to a stopping point or limit.
CLOSE usually implies that something has been in some way open as well as unfinished. close a debate
END conveys a strong sense of finality. ended his life
CONCLUDE may imply a formal closing (as of a meeting). the service concluded with a blessing
FINISH may stress completion of a final step in a process. after it is painted, the house will be finished
COMPLETE implies the removal of all deficiencies or a successful finishing of what has been undertaken. the resolving of this last issue completes the agreement
TERMINATE implies the setting of a limit in time or space. your employment terminates after three months
Adjective
STINGY, CLOSE, NIGGARDLY, PARSIMONIOUS, PENURIOUS, MISERLY
mean being unwilling or showing unwillingness to share with others.
STINGY implies a marked lack of generosity. a stingy child, not given to sharing
CLOSE suggests keeping a tight grip on one's money and possessions. folks who are very close when charity calls
NIGGARDLY implies giving or spending the very smallest amount possible. the niggardly amount budgeted for the town library
PARSIMONIOUS suggests a frugality so extreme as to lead to stinginess. a parsimonious lifestyle notably lacking in luxuries
PENURIOUS implies niggardliness that gives an appearance of actual poverty. the penurious eccentric bequeathed a fortune
MISERLY suggests a sordid avariciousness and a morbid pleasure in hoarding. a miserly couple devoid of social conscience
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Usage Notes
The Weird Logic of 'Near Miss'
It's not the catastrophe it could have been.
What to Know
When a devastating event is narrowly avoided
it is commonly referred to as a near miss.
However, the logic of "near miss," like "near-collision" or "near-comeback,"
suggests that it was the miss that wasavoided, and thus would be a "hit."
The reason for this reversal in part relates to its military usage, in which bombs that missed, but were close to intended targets, could still cause damage and thus a "near miss" was still effective.
Near miss is the term for when something usually devastating
(such as a collision between aircraft) almost happens but does not.
This often prompts critics to ask a fair question:
why isn’t it called a near hit?
Usage of 'Near' with Other Words
Typically, near is used as an adjectival combining form modifying something that comes close to happening but does not.
(This is covered in the dictionary at sense 1b of the 3rd homograph: “almost happening : narrowly missed or avoided.”
Its use often logically modifies events that only come close to taking place. A near-collision is when two things come close to hitting each other but just squeak by. A near-comeback is when you are losing, then almost score enough to win in the end, but fall just short. The collision did not actually happen; nor did the comeback.
A near-accident on Main Street the morning of Sept. 18 prompted a call to police. An officer did a well-being check on the driver of a vehicle that reportedly almost struck another vehicle after the second vehicle’s driver reported the incident.
— Mount Desert Islander (Bar Harbor, Me.), 27 Sept. 2019
Even with just 60 satellites — Musk says all 12,000 will be up by the end of next year — they have already led to a near-collision, Ihnatko said.
"They almost collided with a ESA scientific satellite that is an Earth observation satellite," he said.
— Hannah Uebele, WGBH.org, 6 Sept. 2019
In the coming election cycle, eyes will be locked on Georgia. Since Stacey Abrams’ near victory in the governor’s race and Rep. Lucy McBath’s triumphant campaign for Congress in 2018, Georgia is now considered a competitive state for Democrats.
— Sophie Hayssen, Refinery29.com, 3 Apr. 2020
In near miss, that logic is turned on its ear, because a near miss is in fact a miss, assuming that something that does indeed make contact is a hit.
'Near Miss' not 'Near Hit'
Part of the reason for this curious use is its history.
In military language, a bomb strike that missed its intended target (usually a naval vessel) but still landed close enough to that target to cause damage was termed a near miss.
That application at least had a modicum of sense behind it, because there's a notion of proximity applied to near; like a throw in horseshoes, it wasn’t a direct hit but was near enough to count for something. But since hitting your target is a very important thing, for the purposes of naval record-keeping such strikes are reported as misses.
The term saw significant use during World War II reportage, and almost immediately entered the general lexicon.
Then this salvo crashed. The first one hit the water just near the starboard bow, the other was a near miss amidships. Again we experienced the familiar feeling of the ship being lifted and dropped.
— Capt. William Henry Dawson, Life, 9 Sept. 1940
She was damaged on 26 July, 1943, while on patrol off the harbor of Palermo, Sicily. A close near-miss bomb detonated well below the water surface abreast the port side amidships and caused the damage shown in the photo.
— Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. 58, 1946
But even then the term raised eyebrows:
You mean near-hits.
I suppose I do.
But what they said was near-misses.
Doesn't near-beer mean something which is nearly beer, but not quite?
Yes.
So a near-miss ought to mean something which is nearly a miss? In other words, a hit?
Quite. But don’t blame me.
— Punch, 2 July 1941
In war usage, a near miss was something that still very much had a destructive consequence. But as the term found increased use in general parlance, that distinction gradually vanished, and the term came to be applied to something that missed despite coming very close.
Other Uses of 'Near'
Some usage experts have defended this later use of near miss on the grounds that it agrees with another adjectival use of near in the dictionary, that being defined as "nearly not happening," as in "a near escape."
Some have also speculated that the resemblance of near miss to near thing, a British idiom that itself means “a close call,” might have helped along English speakers’ comfort with using the former term with the latter meaning.
"You were nearly dead," said my interlocutor. "It was a very near thing, indeed. But I've put some stuff into you now. Notice your arm's sore? Injections. You've been insensible for nearly thirty hours."
— H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896
Near miss is almost never used to mean something that is nearly a miss, and any attempt to force that meaning upon the word is not likely to go anywhere. That ship has passed us by
Usage of 'Near' with Other Words
Typically, near is used as an adjectival combining form modifying something that comes close to happening but does not. (This is covered in the dictionary at sense 1b of the 3rd homograph: “almost happening : narrowly missed or avoided.”
Its use often logically modifies events that only come close to taking place. A near-collision is when two things come close to hitting each other but just squeak by. A near-comeback is when you are losing, then almost score enough to win in the end, but fall just short. The collision did not actually happen; nor did the comeback.
A near-accident on Main Street the morning of Sept. 18 prompted a call to police. An officer did a well-being check on the driver of a vehicle that reportedly almost struck another vehicle after the second vehicle’s driver reported the incident.
— Mount Desert Islander (Bar Harbor, Me.), 27 Sept. 2019
Even with just 60 satellites — Musk says all 12,000 will be up by the end of next year — they have already led to a near-collision, Ihnatko said.
"They almost collided with a ESA scientific satellite that is an Earth observation satellite," he said.
— Hannah Uebele, WGBH.org, 6 Sept. 2019
In the coming election cycle, eyes will be locked on Georgia. Since Stacey Abrams’ near victory in the governor’s race and Rep. Lucy McBath’s triumphant campaign for Congress in 2018, Georgia is now considered a competitive state for Democrats.
— Sophie Hayssen, Refinery29.com, 3 Apr. 2020
In near miss, that logic is turned on its ear, because a near miss is in fact a miss, assuming that something that does indeed make contact is a hit.
'Near Miss' not 'Near Hit'
Part of the reason for this curious use is its history. In military language, a bomb strike that missed its intended target (usually a naval vessel) but still landed close enough to that target to cause damage was termed a near miss.
That application at least had a modicum of sense behind it, because there's a notion of proximity applied to near; like a throw in horseshoes, it wasn’t a direct hit but was near enough to count for something. But since hitting your target is a very important thing, for the purposes of naval record-keeping such strikes are reported as misses.
The term saw significant use during World War II reportage, and almost immediately entered the general lexicon.
Then this salvo crashed. The first one hit the water just near the starboard bow, the other was a near miss amidships. Again we experienced the familiar feeling of the ship being lifted and dropped.
— Capt. William Henry Dawson, Life, 9 Sept. 1940
She was damaged on 26 July, 1943, while on patrol off the harbor of Palermo, Sicily. A close near-miss bomb detonated well below the water surface abreast the port side amidships and caused the damage shown in the photo.
— Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Vol. 58, 1946
But even then the term raised eyebrows:
You mean near-hits.
I suppose I do.
But what they said was near-misses. Doesn't near-beer mean something which is nearly beer, but not quite?
Yes.
So a near-miss ought to mean something which is nearly a miss? In other words, a hit?
Quite. But don’t blame me.
— Punch, 2 July 1941
In war usage, a near miss was something that still very much had a destructive consequence. But as the term found increased use in general parlance, that distinction gradually vanished, and the term came to be applied to something that missed despite coming very close.
Other Uses of 'Near'
Some usage experts have defended this later use of near miss on the grounds that it agrees with another adjectival use of near in the dictionary, that being defined as "nearly not happening," as in "a near escape."
Some have also speculated that the resemblance of near miss to near thing, a British idiom that itself means “a close call,” might have helped along English speakers’ comfort with using the former term with the latter meaning.
"You were nearly dead," said my interlocutor. "It was a very near thing, indeed. But I've put some stuff into you now. Notice your arm's sore? Injections. You've been insensible for nearly thirty hours."
— H. G. Wells, The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896
Near miss is almost never used to mean something that is nearly a miss, and any attempt to force that meaning upon the word is not likely to go anywhere. That ship has passed us by
Collins COBUILD English Usage
Near – close
1. talking about short distances
If something is near, near to, or close to a place or thing,
it is a short distance from it.
When close has this meaning, it is pronounced /kləʊs/.
I live in Reinfeld, which is near Lübeck.
I stood very near to them.
They owned a cottage close to the sea.
When near and close have this meaning,
don't use them immediately in front of a noun. Instead use nearby.
He was taken to a nearby hospital.
He threw the bag into some nearby bushes.
However, the superlative form nearest can be used immediately in front of a noun.
They hurried to the nearest exit.
2. meaning 'almost'
You can use near immediately in front of a noun
to say that something is almost a particular thing.
The country is in a state of near chaos.
We drove to the station in near silence.
You can also use near immediately in front of an adjective and a noun
to say that something almost has a particular quality.
It was a near fatal accident.
The Government faces a near impossible dilemma.
You can use near, near to, or close to immediately in front of a noun
to say that someone or something is almost in a particular state.
Her father was angry, her mother near tears.
When she saw him again, he was near to death.
She was close to tears.
3. talking about friends and relatives
You can refer to someone you know well as a 'close friend'.
His father was a close friend of Peter Thorneycroft.
Don't refer to someone as a 'near friend'.
You can refer to someone who is directly related to you as a 'close relative'.
She had no very close relatives.
You can also refer to someone as a 'near relative', but this is less common.
Be Careful!
Don't confuse the adjective 'close' with the verb close /kləʊz/.
If you close something, you move it so that it fills a hole or gap.
Collins COBUILD English Usage
1. 'close' or 'shut'
If you close /kləʊz/ something such as a door,
you move it so that it covers or fills a hole or gap.
He opened the door and closed it behind him.
You can also say that you shut something such as a door.
There is no difference in meaning. The past tense and -ed participle of shut is shut.
I shut the door quietly.
Both closed and shut can be adjectives used after a linking verb.
All the other downstairs rooms are dark and the shutters are closed.
The windows were all shut.
You can use either close or shut to say that work or business stops for a short time in a shop or public building.
Many libraries close on Saturdays at 1 p.m.
What time do the shops shut?
2. 'close' or 'closed' only
Only closed can be used in front of a noun.
You can talk about a closed window, but not a 'shut' window.
He listened to her voice coming faintly through the closed door.
You can say that a road, border, or airport is closed.
The border was closed without notice around midnight.
Don't say that a road, border, or airport 'is shut'.
Be Careful!
Don't confuse the verb close with the adjective close /kləʊs/.
If something is close to something else, it is near to it.
See near - close
Collins COBUILD English Usage
Near – close
1. talking about short distances
If something is near, near to, or close to a place or thing,
it is a short distance from it.
When close has this meaning, it is pronounced /kləʊs/.
I live in Reinfeld, which is near Lübeck.
I stood very near to them.
They owned a cottage close to the sea.
When near and close have this meaning,
don't use them immediately in front of a noun. Instead use nearby.
He was taken to a nearby hospital.
He threw the bag into some nearby bushes.
However, the superlative form nearest can be used immediately in front of a noun.
They hurried to the nearest exit.
2. meaning 'almost'
You can use near immediately in front of a noun to say that something is almost a particular thing.
The country is in a state of near chaos.
We drove to the station in near silence.
You can also use near immediately in front of an adjective and a noun
to say that something almost has a particular quality.
It was a near fatal accident.
The Government faces a near impossible dilemma.
You can use near, near to, or close to immediately in front of a noun
to say that someone or something is almost in a particular state.
Her father was angry, her mother near tears.
When she saw him again, he was near to death.
She was close to tears.
3. talking about friends and relatives
You can refer to someone you know well as a 'close friend'.
His father was a close friend of Peter Thorneycroft.
Don't refer to someone as a 'near friend'.
You can refer to someone who is directly related to you as a 'close relative'.
She had no very close relatives.
You can also refer to someone as a 'near relative', but this is less common.
Be Careful!
Don't confuse the adjective 'close' with the verb close /kləʊz/. If you close something, you move it so that it fills a hole or gap.
See close - closed - shut
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expression
Near & close
These words mean
“at or within a short distance or interval in time or space,”
but close is closer it nearer than near.
That is, use close when you wish to stressimmediate proximity:
“a close shave,” “a close call,” “a closefriend.”
Near more often conveys the idea of a narrowmargin or approximation:
“a near resemblance.” “a near escape,” “nearneighbors.”
A photo finish is a close race, not a near one.
Also, one does not set a near-record.
Only a record is recorded, not a near-record.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
HELP NOTE
Near to is not usually used before
the name of a place, person, festival, etc.
1 at a short distance away from sb/sth:
Do you live near here?
Go and sit nearer (to) the fire.
2 a short period of time from sth:
My birthday is very near Christmas.
I'll think about it nearer (to) the time (= when it is just going to happen).
3 used before a number
to mean 'approximately', 'just below or above':
Share prices are near their record high of last year.
Profits fell from $11 million to nearer $8 million.
4 similar to sb/sth in quality, size, etc:
Nobody else comes near her in intellect.
He's nearer 70 than 60.
This colour is nearest (to) the original.
5 ~ (doing) sth close to a particular state:
a state near (to) death
She was near to tears (= almost crying).
We came near to being killed.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
WHICH WORD?
near / close
The adjectives near and close are often the same in meaning,
but in some phrases only one of them may be used:
the near future * a near neighbor * a near miss * a close contest * a close encounter * a close call.
Close is more often used to describe a relationshipbetween people:
a close friend * close family * close links. You do not usually use near in this way.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
WHICH WORD?
close / shut
You can close and shut doors, windows, your eyes, mouth, etc.
Shut can suggest more noise and is often found in phrases
such as slammed shut, banged shut, snapped shut.
Shut is also usually used for containers such asboxes, suitcases, etc.
To talk about the time when shops, offices, etc. are not open,
use close or shut:
What time do the banks close/shut?
A strike has shut the factory.
You can also use closed or shut (AmE usually closed):
The store is closed/shut today.
Especially in AmE, shut can sound less polite.
Closed is used in front of a noun, but shut is not: a closed window.
We usually use closed about roads, airports, etc.:
The road is closed because of the snow.
Close is also used in formal English to talk about ending a meeting or conversation.
American Heritage Dictionary
USAGE NOTE:
Strictly speaking,
the phrase close proximity says nothing that is not said by proximity itself. Like other common redundancies, however (old adage, mental telepathy), this usage is too widespread and too innocuous to be worth objecting to. See Usage Note at redundancy.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
WORD CHOICE:
close, shut, lock, turn/switch off
In many contexts, the verbs close and shut
can be used in exactly the same way :
Please close OR shut the gate.
The windows were all closed OR shut.
She closed OR shut her eyes.
The store closes OR shuts at 7.
!! Use close for a road, border, or airport :
All the crossing points on the border have been closed (NOT shut).
!! Before a noun, use closed : a closed door (NOT shut door)
!! You cannot say 'close someone somewhere'.
Use shut or lock to say that someone is put in a room or building and cannot get out:
They shut her (NOT closed her) in her bedroom.
He was locked (NOT closed) in a cell.
Use switch off or turn off with electrical things:
Will you turn off (NOT close) the TV?
I switched off (NOT closed) all the lights.
