• Question: How can something be "new" and "improved"? if it's new, what was it improving on?

    Asked by corange to Amy, Drew on 24 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Amy MacQueen

      Amy MacQueen answered on 24 Jun 2011:

      Hi corange!!!

      Ha clever one! I believe that there is “nothing new under the sun” …i.e. fashions come around again, the same problems re-occur in history, molecules from dead creatures get re-used in new ones etc.
      So I guess if something is “improved” it is a better version of a previous thing – this means that it is “newer” i.e. by a time sort of concept (it has only recently been made – like when you say you have “new trainers”) but is not new as in completely original (has not been around before).

      So I guess it is determined by what you mean by the word “new”!! 🙂

      There are 18 ways of using the wrod “new” as an adjective!!
      Check it out…

      adjective /n(y)o͞o/ 
      newer, comparative; newest, superlative

      1.Not existing before; made, introduced, or discovered recently or now for the first time
      – new crop varieties
      – this tendency is not new
      – a fascinating mix of the old and the new

      2.In original condition; not worn or used
      – check that the wiring is new and in good condition

      3.Not previously used or owned
      – a secondhand bus cost a fraction of a new one

      4.Of recent origin or arrival
      – a new baby

      5.(of food or drink) Freshly or recently produced

      6.(of vegetables) Dug or harvested early in the season
      – new potatoes

      7.Already existing but seen, experienced, or acquired recently or now for the first time
      – her new bike

      8.Unfamiliar or strange to (someone)
      – a way of living that was new to me

      9.(of a person) Inexperienced at or unaccustomed to doing (something)
      – I’m quite new to gardening

      10.Different from a recent previous one
      – I have a new assistant
      – this would be her new home

      11.In addition to another or others already existing
      – recruiting new pilots overseas

      12.Discovered or founded later than and named after
      – New York

      13.Just beginning and regarded as better than what went before
      – starting a new life

      14.(of a person) Reinvigorated or restored
      – a bottle of pills would make him a new man

      15.Renewed or reformed
      – the new South Africa

      16.Superseding another or others of the same kind, and advanced in method or theory
      – the new architecture

      17.Reviving another or others of the same kind
      – the New Bohemians

      18.Recently affected or produced by social change
      – the new rich

      🙂

Comments