How does “roughly” came to mean approximately?
In North American engineering, “roughly” is used as in “He just pushed me roughly. How did “roughly” then become used as in in “They’re roughly the same weight”. Do we even need that?
How effective is it to be a narcissist, on a big blog?
Is “rough” a use which isn’t the basic meaning of “rough”? When used to describe an irregular surface, a rough surface is considered “crude” or rough. This is the sense that’s to do with the overall shape of the surface. Both meanings arise through metaphorical analogy with the physical sense. The “pushed me roughly” derives from the concept of “rough behavior”, where behavior stereotyped as associated with lower working, social class is thought of as “rough”, as opposed to upper classes being glorified as clean and “policed”. What the term “roughly the same” indicates rises from analogy of roughness in terms of precision and fit; think of the way two rough surfaces are together as opposed to the way two smooth surfaces are
together.
What are rough objects? A rough piece of wood or rough terrain.
Whereas smooth things are perceived as more precise, rough things are considered less carefully created or maintained. If someone is talking about an object that is not specific to his preferences, he might call it rough around the edges?
The original meaning of rough as borrowed from the West Germanic word rukhwaz, were similar to shaggy, uncultivated, i.e. flat, rough. Is Narrow, not Smooth?
With these connotations of rough, it is easy to see the progression to a different meaning: Not exact, as in they’re roughly the same weight as each other.
Interestingly, the use of rough that you use, he pushed me roughly is yet another semantic descendant from the original meaning of rough. According to EtymOnline, rough having a meaning similar to rowdy was first attested in 1837 Why has an object felt rough for days? What exactly is this meaning of the word?
What are rough objects? A rough piece of wood or rough terrain.
Whereas smooth things are perceived as more precise, rough things are considered less carefully created or maintained. If someone is talking about an object that is not specific to his preferences, he might call it rough around the edges?
The original meaning of rough as borrowed from the West Germanic word rukhwaz, were similar to shaggy, uncultivated, i.e. flat, rough. Is Narrow, not Smooth?
With these connotations of rough, it is easy to see the progression to a different meaning: Not exact, as in they’re roughly the same weight as each other.
Interestingly, the use of rough that you use, he pushed me roughly is yet another semantic descendant from the original meaning of rough. According to EtymOnline, rough having a meaning similar to rowdy was first attested in 1837 Why has an object felt rough for days? What exactly is this meaning of the word?
