"Fast than laser printer"
"Enjoy this great offers ..."
Is this the correct usage of "spoilt" in Standard English? A very Singaporean way of using English? Should this be corrected to "a broken trolley"?
Alvin mentioned in one of his AAE101 lecture that spoilt is used on things like food that are perishable. When something is repairable or fixable we should use "broken" to describe an object instead of "spoilt". People from other countries will find us strange if we said "my watch is spoilt" as if we were feeding it, talking to it like it was a living thing, that is like a child that is being spoilt.
His reasoning makes sense. So I'm thinking, does it mean that when I use broken to describe an object, that object must be fixable? I do have the impression that some of the things broken are not exactly fixable. For example, a vase may actually have been shattered into many pieces, I can simply say a vase is broken. Can the vase actually be fixed and pieced together perfectly...to be able to return it to its original funtionality? Or maybe the huge pieces can be sort of glued and Scotch taped together and be considered as fixed despite seeing crack lines and likely to have small missing pieces? ...I wonder am I making up funny scenarios and am I thinking too much? Am I alone in this thought or have you ever thought and wondered about something like this too?
But well, I see there's a need for me to learn to understand and use English language in the right way. Otherwise the prescriptive linguist would hang me for my cold-blooded murder of the English tongue. haha...
I was looking up the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 3rd Edition.
I think the words sort of lead from one to another.
Break has many meanings. The ones that I'm looking at closes to 'spoilt' are "damage" and "break down".
break
Damage>[I or T] to (cause something to) seperate suddenly or violently into two or more pieces, or to (cause something to) stop working by being damaged.
break down MACHINE> If a machine or vehicle breaks down, it stops working.
So it leads me to look up damaged.
damaged> adj.> meaning harmed or spoilt.
Leads me to look for Spoilt. Wah...this word has many meanings too!
spoil
>verb (spoiled or spoilt, spoiled or spoilt)
1.DESTROY> [T] to destroy or reduce the pleasure, interest or beauty of something
2. [I or T] When food spoils or is spoilt, it is no longer good enough to eat.
4. TREAT WELL> [T] to treat someone very or too well, especially by being extremely generous.
5. CHILD > [T] DISAPPROVING to allow a child to behave exactly as it wants to, usually so that it becomes selfish and does not care for and show respect to other people.
Well, in simplistic thinking...I'm thinking it doesn't matter whether I used "spoilt trolley" or "broken trolley" since "broken" will lead to "damage" and will eventually lead to "spoil" anyway... But I think there is a subtle difference between these words.
What complexity in the English language! Can really get confusing at times. haha...
I apologise for the lengthy read.
I'm hoping you... "Yes, You!", the Reader, would want to shed some light if you have read through or even skimmed through this post. It'll be nice for me to know that there are people who agree with me so that I feel reassured that I'm on the right track. Even if you are going to disagree with me, it's fine. So that I can learn from constructive criticism.
So what are you waiting for? I look forward to your spontaneous feedbacks!
Cheers ;)
Jennifer
