• lugal@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    10
    ·
    11 months ago

    Why didn’t you say:

    Hate to anthropomorphise animals but it looks like it’s smiling, like a big shit eating grin.

    Or stuff still feels more neutral. But I’m not a native speaker of English so maybe “thing” isn’t as derogative as it sounds to me

    • big_slap@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      11 months ago

      in this case, thing isn’t derogative to a native speaker, in my opinion. I can see where your confusion is, though.

      my tip would be to look at the other words in the sentence to try and grasp the tone of the entire statement. I know it’s difficult, but you’ll get there… good luck!

    • Fushuan [he/him]@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      11 months ago

      Thing is a synonim of stuff and they don’t really have any kind of different connotation. Stuff might be more coloquial, which doesn’t mean thing is formal, I wouldn’t use stuff in a form setting, that’s all.

      • lugal@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        11 months ago

        I just today watch an episode where someone said “you are the thing I love most” to a person as if it was a sign or something but it’s just selective memory.

        I’m sorry for being stupid I guess. We are all here to learn.