This question was closed without grading. Reason: Other
Aug 19, 2013 22:40
11 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
overseen
English
Art/Literary
Linguistics
Hi,
what could be the meaning of the word "overseen" as in following sentence?
“Intergenerational War for Equity” describes vividly what I would call a commonly overseen elephant in the drawing room.
more context - http://goo.gl/1Qllsf
what could be the meaning of the word "overseen" as in following sentence?
“Intergenerational War for Equity” describes vividly what I would call a commonly overseen elephant in the drawing room.
more context - http://goo.gl/1Qllsf
Responses
4 +3 | overlooked | Tony M |
5 | niedostrzegany | Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz |
3 +1 | ignored | Darius Saczuk |
3 | unnoticed | Andrew Vdovin |
Responses
+1
10 mins
ignored
IMHO
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Note added at 11 mins (2013-08-19 22:51:54 GMT)
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UNNOTICED
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Note added at 11 mins (2013-08-19 22:51:54 GMT)
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UNNOTICED
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Łukasz Gos-Furmankiewicz
: 'Unnoticed' even better.
1 min
|
Dzięki, Łukasz. :-)
|
|
neutral |
Beata Claridge
: Darku, rzuc okiem, please, na dyskusje w orginalnym pytaniu i na niuansiki, ktore byc moze wam umknely - albo powiedz mi , prosze, prosto w twarz, ze sie myle :)
1 hr
|
10 mins
niedostrzegany
Dosł. "przeoczany", przegapiany itd. Tam dalej jest takie zdanie: "the elephant is even larget, but it will remain invisible", które powinno wszystko już wyjaśnić.
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Note added at 12 mins (2013-08-19 22:52:17 GMT)
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Literally: 'Failed to be seen', like those Biblical people who look but don't see. Sorry, didn't realise this was a monolingual question, while I knew you were Polish.
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Note added at 12 mins (2013-08-19 22:52:17 GMT)
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Literally: 'Failed to be seen', like those Biblical people who look but don't see. Sorry, didn't realise this was a monolingual question, while I knew you were Polish.
Peer comment(s):
neutral |
Darius Saczuk
: English-English. It has happened to me a couple of times before...
1 min
|
neutral |
Beata Claridge
: dalej w tekscie pojawia sie "THAT elephant" (.. is even larger, but it will remain invisible ..") - mowa o innym sloniu/ nastepnym, jeszcze wiekszym problemie jakim jest konflikt generacji
1 hr
|
+3
6 hrs
overlooked
An unusual choice of verb in the source text; but I guess it relates to the less common meaning, as found in 'an oversight' (instead of the usual sense of 'to supervise').
NS OED gives:
oversee
II overlook, miss
4a v.t. Fail or omit to see, overlook; disregard
But notes this is obsolete, except in dialect.
NS OED gives:
oversee
II overlook, miss
4a v.t. Fail or omit to see, overlook; disregard
But notes this is obsolete, except in dialect.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
Arabic & More
1 hr
|
Thanks, Amel!
|
|
agree |
Jack Doughty
2 hrs
|
Thanks, Jack!
|
|
agree |
David Moore (X)
2 hrs
|
Thanks, David!
|
1 day 4 hrs
unnoticed
It means you somehow managed not to notice something that is really hard not to notice. :)
Discussion
We're awaiting her decision .....
However, the 'elephant in the drawing-room' metaphor does of course imply that one is ignoring something that is obvious — so in that sense, an element of choice is of course involved.
Charles, you wrote: "overseen" implies deliberate attention,
and I could not agree more. Therefore if I was the author, I would certainly use a word like this if I wanted to specifically imply that it is our deliberate actions that are responsible for existence of the problem. These deliberate actions (the metaphorical "overseeing of the elephant") are all our efforts to create a world like we have today with ready systems in place (setting up the modern systems of finance, banking, business etc. could not have been more deliberate).
Also, please note that it is not Wagner (he is the inspired Austrian who wrote the “Intergenerational War for Equity”, the article quoted in the book) who uses the "elephant phrase", but Randers, the author of the book - a much better writer in my opinion. I still cannot get rid of this idea that the author was deliberately toying with a common phrase and as a result created a unique metaphor here rather than just used a wrong word and made a mistake.
It is true that the problem of disaffected youth that the writer refers to is one that the older generation has helped to create, but "overseen" implies deliberate attention, whereas the writer is suggesting that we have been unaware of what we have been creating: "we have not noticed that we no longer are being really helpful to our children". If the writer really meant "overseen" in the sense you suggest, I think he/she would have used a different word. "Oversee" is an strange word to use for nurturing a problem. As I say, my immediate reaction was that "overseen" is a mistake for "overlooked". I believe other native English speakers would react that way. If the writer was deliberately using "oversee" rather than "overlook", I think he/she could have expected to be misunderstood.
Sorry for predominantly Polish discussions, I will try to sum up my doubts in English. I gather that most of us understand by now what "an elephant in the room" is, we had a look at Wikipedia, dictionaries etc; what we seem to dwell upon is the meaning of word "overseen" when combined with our proverbial elephant. Can it really mean "not seen" "unnoticed" (by definition, 'elephant in the room' means 'an obvious but ignored problem/truth')
I am not a native speaker (therefore not sure) yet I have a strong suspicion that 'overseen' here might mean that we actually had helped nourish the said elephant at the first place; we, ourselves, have our part in creating this problem that we are now commonly ignoring. Please tell me if this makes any sense to you at all.
It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there have chosen to avoid dealing with the looming big issue."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_in_the_room
And yet even "overlook" is not really the right word, because the point about the "elephant in the room" is not that people overlook it (fail to notice it) but that they ignore it (pretend that they can't see it). "Oversee" doesn't mean that, but neither does "overlook". So this is really not a very good piece of writing in English.
See related question in En-Pl -> http://www.proz.com/kudoz/5303518