You can do anything!

Positive and negative evaluations of words

It was quite a while ago, but I remember reading the following passage.

One year, a certain factory decided to build a large building. Before construction began, someone gave a passionate speech to mobilize everyone, and at the end said: 'Everyone, if we work together, we can do anything!' Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

One year, a certain factory decided to build a large building. Before construction began, someone gave a passionate speech to mobilize everyone, and at the end said: 'Everyone, if we work together, we can do anything!' Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

Now, why were they taken aback?
The answer is as follows.

Although this sentence is grammatically correct, the emotional nuance of the context is different. 'Can do anything' (in this context) has a negative connotation, implying doing something bad, and cannot be paired with 'everyone working together'.

In other words, while there is no problem with the sentence grammatically, “什么事情都能干出来” (can do anything)has a “贬义”(negative evaluation) meaning. Specifically, it means 'to do anything bad,' which creates an inconsistency when combined with the previous clause 'everyone working together.'

Words have these “± evaluation” or “emotional nuance”meanings. For example, please look at the following table.

The example above shows the difference between positive and negative evaluations, but what are known as 'nuance differences' also exist among 'synonyms' and 'near-synonyms'.

For example, let's look at the following Chinese example.

Two people, A and B, came to a place that was sparsely populated and very quiet. A said: 'This place is very peaceful (qīngjìng).' B said: 'This place is very desolate (lěngqīng).' For the same place, one said 'peaceful' and the other said 'desolate.' Why is this?

Two people, A and B, came to a place. It was sparsely populated and very quiet. Then, A said, 'This place is very '“qīngjìng” (peaceful).' On the other hand, B said, 'This place is very '“lěngqīng” (desolate).' The evaluation of the same place was that one said “qīngjìng” and the other said “lěngqīng”, but why is that?

The answer is as follows.
Actually, 'qīngjìng' and 'lěngqīng' have the same basic meaning, but their emotional nuances are different. 'A,' who does not like crowds, likes this place, so they say 'qīngjìng'; 'B,' who likes crowds, does not like this place, so they say 'lěngqīng'.

In other words, 'A,' who dislikes busy places, likes this place and says it is 'peaceful' (serene), while 'B,' who likes busy places, dislikes this place and says it is 'desolate' (lonely because there are few people).

Native speakers possess these 'positive/negative evaluations,' 'emotional nuances,' or 'nuances' as a 'sense of language,' but non-native speakers have no choice but to learn them. I hope you will try to acquire them by communicating with native speakers and reading movies and novels.

The representative of emotional nuance words is the 'interjection.' Please try to grasp the nuances in the following examples.

1. Ai (sigh), I've been sick for two months and have delayed all my work.
2. Yi (huh?), you were just here, how did you suddenly disappear?
3. Pei (phooey), that's simply outrageous!
4. Xu (shh), don't make a sound!
5. Aiyo (ouch), it hurts so much I can't stand it!
6. Nuo (look), isn't this your fan?
7. A (ah), so it was you!
8. He (wow), that's amazing!