I feel sad for nothing ? (about negative usage)

Question

Like the simple sentence:"I feel sad for nothing."My question is, is it ambiguous in meaning ?1. I don't feel anything sad.2. I feel sad, even in the boring details.I can't exactly tell if the negative "nothing" will used to negate "feel sad" or not..thanks for your answering...

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Like the simple sentence: "I feel sad for nothing." My question is, is it ambiguous in meaning ?[/nq]
Yes.
Assuming one meaning of the sentence, I would say instead, I feel sad about nothing, and that is just as ambiguous.
There are a lot of sentences like that where it's not clear to what part of the sentence the negative refers.
Generally, one should rephrase.
I regret nothing.
or otoh
Even though nothing is wrong, I feel sad.
One of the reasons my writing is so long is that I've been misunderstood so many times, even when I was clear, that I try to avoid that by saying everything like my "Even though..." sentence above, or by saying things twice if I think it neccessary. And by replacing a lot of pronouns with the things they represent.
[nq:1]1. I don't feel anything sad. 2. I feel sad, even in the boring details. I can't exactly tell if the negative "nothing" will used to negate "feel sad" or not.. thanks for your answering...[/nq]
If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Like the simple sentence: "I feel sad for nothing." My question is, is it ambiguous in meaning ? 1. I ... I can't exactly tell if the negative "nothing" will used to negate "feel sad" or not.. thanks for your answering...[/nq]
In this case, your original sentence is extremely ambiguous. What exactly you meant would be dependant on the context and any emotional cues that were given along with the statement.
Do you mean that you feel sad, despite there being no reason for such feelings? It would be clearer then to say, "I feel sad, even though there is no reason." or "I feel sad for no reason."

Do you mean that there is nothing that you feel sad about? Then you want something like "There is no reason for me to feel sad." or "There is nothing I feel sad about."
Another meaning would be that you feel sad, although that feeling serves no purpose or doesn't affect the situation at all. That would be a rather unusual usage; more common would be something along the lines of "I feel sad, but it doesn't matter." or " I feel sad, but it doesn't make any difference."

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Like the simple sentence: "I feel sad for nothing." My question is, is it ambiguous in meaning ?[/nq]
[nq:1]Yes. Assuming one meaning of the sentence, I would say instead, I feel sad about nothing, and that is just ... where it's not clear to what part of the sentence the negative refers. Generally, one should rephrase. I regret nothing.[/nq]
Nitpicking a bit here.
"Regret" isn't always a good replacement for "feel sad." "Regret" carries an implication that not only am I sad about what happened, but also that I was somehow involved in it, or that it is at least in part my fault or my doing. "Feel sad" doesn't carry that implication.

I ~~feel sad~~ that the old diner with the great rhubarb pie has closed, but I don't regret it. I may, on the other hand, ~~regret~~ that I didn't go there one last time when I heard that they were going to close at the end of August.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Like the simple sentence: "I feel sad for nothing." My question is, is it ambiguous in meaning ? 1. I ... in the boring details. I can't exactly tell if the negative "nothing" will used to negate "feel sad" or not..[/nq]
Your sentence means "I feel sad for no reason".
Adrian

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Yes. Assuming one meaning of the sentence, I would say ... the negative refers. Generally, one should rephrase. I regret nothing.[/nq]
[nq:1]Nitpicking a bit here. "Regret" isn't always a good replacement for "feel sad." "Regret"[/nq]
That's why I said I was assuming one meaning of the sentence. Assume I meant that for the following paragraphs too.

[nq:1]carries an implication that not only am I sad about what happened, but also that I was somehow involved in ... didn't go there one last time when I heard that they were going to close at the end of August.[/nq]
If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM :-)

Usenet · Answer

Adrian Bailey schrieb:
[nq:2]Like the simple sentence: "I feel sad for nothing." My ... negative "nothing" will used to negate "feel sad" or not..[/nq]
[nq:1]Your sentence means "I feel sad for no reason". Adrian[/nq]
That's how I read it too.
Sally

Usenet · Answer

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I feel sad for nothing ? (about negative usage)

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