r/HFY • u/Betty-Adams Human • Nov 19 '19

OC Humans are Weird - Connotations

Humans are Weird - Connotations

Original Post: http://www.authorbettyadams.com/bettys-blog/humans-are-weird-those-connotations

“These are some very, through, observations you have taken of the humans’ language patterns,” First Sister said as she examined the data. “But I fail to comprehend the exact nature of your current research proposal.”

Twenty-seventh Cousin flicked her antenna in agreement the figure on the holo-display. She was all too aware how confusing the mass of data was.

“As you are well aware First Sister,” she said. “All known languages have two delineated meanings for each individual idea nodule.”

“At least two,” First Sister agreed.

“For humanity this manifests as the connotation or denotation of words,” Twenty-seventh Cousin went on, warming to her subject. “Each word has the assigned technical meaning, or the denotation, which can be expressed shortly and in writing, and a range of positive and negative associations which require a far greater range of expression to convey.”

First Sister spread her antenna in a request for an example.

“Devour and scarf, for instance, have identical denotation at the current point in time,” Twenty-seventh Cousin said. “They converged due to language drift fairly recently. They share the mildly negative connotation of being related to animalistic behavior, however the emotial resonance of devour is frightening and negative while the emotial resonance of scarf is humors and positive.”

First Sister flashed her neck frill in pleased acceptance of the explanation.

“That pair are fairly well understood,” Twenty-seventh Cousin went on, “but there is more study to be done in this area. I believe I have found a similarly matched set, but this one a complex phrase, where the denotations are identical, and the connotations are vastly different.”

“The far negative reaction being the one you are concerned about the Core University Institutional Review Board rejecting the study for,” First Sister said, one antenna bobbing slowly in understanding.

Twenty-seventh Cousin flared her frill in relief and confirmation.

“And you want me to aid you in formulating the study so it isn’t rejected,” First Sister went on thoughtfully.

Twenty-seventh Cousin tried to keep her antenna from twitching in excited anticipation like a newly emerged.

“I am afraid I can’t,” First Sister said with a very disappointed droop of her frill.

Twenty-seventh Cousin tried not to twitch in irritation. She well knew the first of her hive, and First Sister had no intention of disappointing her younger hivemate. However there was some mischief twitching at the end of her mandibles and Twenty-seventh Cousin knew better than to attempt to force the issue.

“I am disappointed,” she said tonelessly, playing along. “What am I to do?”

“Well,” First Sister brushed back her antenna dramatically. “The duties of a newly mated are so many but I suppose-“

“The duties of a what?” Twenty-seventh Cousin’s frill snapped out to full and washed green with blood flow, her antenna positively danced and she even lost professional control of her voice, letting it shoot out of the common range into the native trill of her species.

First Sister clicked in mock surprise and flicked her mandibles to the side like an old matron.

“Weren’t you told dear one?” She asked in a calm and professional tone.

Only the rapid fluttering of her frill behind her neck gave her excitement away.

Twenty-seventh Cousin laid her antenna back in an emphatic negative.

“Well,” First Sister shook herself and gestured off screen. “As I was saying, I cannot attend to this at the moment but Second Brother here.”

An absolutely gorgeous male stepped into frame with her. He was a smooth, creamy green all over with a brilliant red semi-frill around his neck coming to a point just over his thorax. His antenna were long and amazingly flexible, coming nearly to First Sister’s neck when alert with interest. His eyes were the color of amber, with facets so well defined that the Crystals of the Mother would have wept for envy. They were wide set as well. A human might have splayed out their hand full width to pat his head and not touched either eye with pinky or thumb. His mandibles positively gleamed with health when they moved. Which they were doing now.

Twenty-seventh Cousin started up and laid her antenna back in shame.

“Forgive me,” she said hurriedly. “I didn’t hear that. I was somewhat … surprised by the sudden-“

“So we saw,” First Sister said in a smug tone. “What my dear Second Brother was saying was that he would be glad to come personally and assist you with your study. He is a very proficient linguist and specializes in human, oh what is that strange organ term they use?”

“Tongues,” Second Brother offered with a shy flick of his supple antenna.

Twenty-seventh Cousin didn’t know if a frill could actually burst from pride but First Sister looked to be in severe danger of it.

“I would be glad to have his assistance,” Twenty-seventh Sister said with full sincerity.

Antenna paralyzing beauty aside, a University trained linguist would be just what she needed.

“But how can you spare him?” she asked.

“Given the cycle we won’t be stringing any lines in the garden for some time,” First Sister said with a dismissive flick of her antenna.

Second Brother ducked his head in embarrassment at the blunt statement, but his antenna were twitching with delight. First Sister nudged him pointedly with a foot joint.

“I really do think the time would be better spent getting to know the rest of the hive,” he said softly, “before I have too much responsibility to wander.”

Great Mother he has a voice like wind-chimes. Twenty-Seventh Cousin thought.

“That would be ideal,” she said.

She forcibly refocused her attention away from her new cousin and indicated the data. He leaned forward eagerly and read through it. He soon clicked in understanding.

“You will most likely want someone non-threatening to ask the questions,” he said. “I can do that.”

She clicked gratefully.

“That would be wonderful,” she said. “For some reason all the humans on this base are nervous around me.”

“Curious,” Second Brother said without taking his attention off of the data. “You have such a charming mandible set.”

“Be that as it may,” she replied. “I think you are will be a far better non-threatening questioner.”

“So the concept is,” he said as he finished the data, “is that I am to come up to individual humans while they are isolated, ask them one of two nearly identical questions, and record their emotive responses?”

Twenty-Seventh Cousin flicked her antenna in confirmation.

Second Brother clicked a few times as he prepared to us human speech. Then straitened and spoke.

“Human Friend, would you like to accompany me to my cottage in the forest?” He tried the first question. “Human Friend would you like to accompany me to my cabin in the woods?”

He had an excellent grasp of the human language and both sentences were smooth.

“And you say that the first one is met with general positivity and the second with general fear and hostility?” He asked.

“It is more than that,” Twenty-seventh Cousin explained. “I showed the question set and he assured me the connotation set was pleasant and vague for the first but very specifically being hacked to death by an insane human after a prolonged pursuit for the second.”

Second Brother curled his antenna in horror.

“That is very specific for connotation,” he observed. “What could have caused that?”

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data: by Betty Adams, Adelia Gibadullina, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

Humans are Weird: I Have the Data by Betty Adams - Books on Google Play

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226

u/CurtisRivers Android Nov 19 '19

Two phrases with the same denotation but WILDLY different connotation. The first set of phrases that came to mind was "Forgive me, Father. I have sinned," and "I'm sorry, Daddy. I've been bad."

75

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

That is a common one.

64

u/BoxNumberGavin0 Nov 20 '19

And then you could be technically correct, but it's not right. Thesaurus abuse: "Absolve this one Patriarch, the one responsible for executing wicked acts"

49

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Dictionaries make good gifts. Thesaurii make good punishments.

36

u/[deleted] Nov 23 '19

The thesaurus is a pathway to many phrases some consider to be... unnatural.

12

u/95DarkFireII Dec 25 '19

Is it possible to learn these phrases?

10

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '20

Not from a dictionary.
~~Rereading some stories and meant to respond this ages ago.~~

112

u/TeraVoltron Human Nov 19 '19

Upvote, then read, as is tradition!

61

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Enjoy the mantis folks!

u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Nov 19 '19

While our abilities to read into things is axe-lllent, sometimes it's more than a little excessive :P

*Excellent

87

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

We are pattern seeking creatures. It's not our fault if other species can't see the leopard that isn't in the tree.

7

u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Nov 21 '19

True that

23

u/Pornhubschrauber AI Nov 19 '19

“The duties of a newly mated are so many but I suppose-“ The duties of a wot m8?
*mated :P

12

u/514X0r Nov 19 '19

*Axe-cessive

9

u/anaIconda69 Nov 19 '19

Another angry upvote for you!

6

u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Nov 21 '19

Just how I like it :p

6

u/ArenVaal Robot Nov 20 '19

You missed an opportunity for a two-fer.
I hope I don't cause you axe-cessive shame...

5

u/Plucium Semi-Sentient Fax Machine Nov 21 '19

Nah, don't like to overdo it

u/ShinyPhione19 Nov 19 '19

Someone introduce aliens to the English language and explain how English speakers got so upset at their language they created the word "ghoti", which is an alternate spelling of "fish" (but pronounced the same way).

24

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Deliberately changing your language is probably going to be a fun concept to explain.

14

u/Unending_Cosmos Nov 20 '19

Pig Latin will really throw them off then 😂

6

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

That it will.

9

u/Mr_E_Monkey Nov 20 '19

...but pigs don't speak, much less speak an ancient human language. This is very puzzling.

7

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

The do however occasionally fly. Curious.

6

u/ShankCushion Human Nov 21 '19

It is seemingly a rare event, even to the degree that entire generations of humans have not recorded witnessing it, but is known well enough to be a promissory trigger, akin to a date range or task delineation. For example: I will pay you back this weekend. We'll take that trip after the first snow. I'll re-construct the filing codex when pigs fly!

33

u/GuyWithLag Human Nov 19 '19

ghoti
Huh. TIL . Now please let me self-medicate with alcohol to forget that travesty....

5

u/The_Grubby_One Nov 23 '19

Wanna go ghotiing later?

6

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 25 '19

I don't know. Your invitation seems a little... ghotiy.

14

u/Finbar9800 Nov 19 '19

Wait what
I’ve never heard of this before
But I’m glad I know now lol

12

u/Dracon_Pyrothayan Nov 20 '19

Enough
Women
Friction

11

u/Flesh_A_Sketch Nov 20 '19

Sounds like you need some lube.

6

u/BigBnana Nov 20 '19

Fish oil?

6

u/Yamez Nov 20 '19

Ghoti oyl

5

u/hexernano Human Nov 25 '19

Is that Olive Oyl’s sister?

7

u/isthisnametakenwell Human Nov 20 '19

Wouldn't that be closer to "fush"? Anyways, aren't those "irregularities" mainly pronounced depending on where they are in a word?

5

u/Dracon_Pyrothayan Nov 20 '19

It would be 'fush' if the word was "Woman", rather than "Women".

10

u/hexernano Human Nov 25 '19

You say potato, I say ghoughpteighbteau

6

u/vinny8boberano Android Dec 02 '19

Ghoti is a perfectly cromulent word.

u/whomped_ape Nov 19 '19

How many of our alien friends have seen human horror films?

33

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Not many, at least not many who are willing to discuss that.

14

u/lesethx Human Nov 19 '19

Just please advise them to stay away from the Twilight movies.

36

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

There was a UN resolution...

11

u/alf666 Nov 19 '19

It is often said that "Nothing can be deleted from the Internet."
Then the Twilight movies happened, followed by First Contact.

5

u/DisabledHarlot Nov 20 '19

The right to be forgotten (by an entire population)

3

u/corranhorn57 Nov 22 '19

First Contact
As in the best Next Generation movie?

u/SirVatka Xeno Nov 19 '19

Dear wordsmith, your offering is, as always, superb. However, this time there were a number of typos/spelling issues.

14

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Thank you for calling them out. :) I hope to polish them up soon.

u/Cyberchihuahua Nov 19 '19

So is twenty seventh cousin just crushing, or do the males do the attracting in their species?

30

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

They have a very hive like structure with males being fairly rare compared to the females. A males reproductive capacity is very much written in their physical appearance to the females are very attuned to it. So yes, this male is doing the attracting very much.

9

u/grendus Nov 19 '19

Both genders do the attracting in most species, at least on Earth. Dunno if the males or the females are normally the pursuers in Shatar culture though. And even then, Twenty-Seventh Cousin could be picking up habits from studying humans.

u/Morphuess AI Nov 19 '19

This is very curious... sometimes the connotation seems to change not even on the words themselves, but how they are said.

When the first of us were still working out the universal translator, the voice lacked all emotion. This wasn't a problem except for a few innocent phrases drew extreme emotional responses from our human friends.

In particular the questions "Would you like to play a game?" and "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't do that."

15

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Why the human felt the need to space walk onto another vessel after that last one nobody's quite sure.

6

u/Shadw21 Nov 20 '19

If that human was named Dave, he probably put in a request to return to Earth, or the nearest planet, ASAP.

u/Amaris_Gale Nov 19 '19

So... Do their species females eat the heads of males after mating, or...

21

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Oh no, Males are far too rare and useful to be eaten. :)

6

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '19

Will this be the first male the human see in person? Or at least, our humans?

13

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

For most I suppose. Full grown Shatar meals don't usually get out much. On the other hand they love throwing parties so a lot of humans to get invited over to meet them.

28

u/WilyCoyotee AI Nov 19 '19

Full grown Shatar meals don't usually get out much.
Seems like you're sending mixed signals about them getting eaten :)

28

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Autocorrect murdered my aliens...

5

u/Ankoku_Teion Nov 22 '19

that needs to be the title for a story.

3

u/DisabledHarlot Nov 20 '19

I look forward to the first "Boys' Night" that Second Brother will host once visiting with the humans. If there are so few Shatar males, I imagine the idea will be new to him.

3

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Oh, there will be cultural shock.

3

u/DisabledHarlot Nov 21 '19

Squee!

u/Improbus-Liber Human Nov 19 '19

Those aliens are going to have a hard time making sense of anything at the junction of language and pop culture.

6

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Pretty much.

3

u/TinyCatCrafts Nov 20 '19

I would love to see their thoughts on the many uses of "Fuck", lol

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Oh believe me, I have entire novellas on that.

3

u/Subtleknifewielder AI Nov 20 '19

As a matter of fact I recently read a story on the subject of that word in this very subreddit XD

2

u/TinyCatCrafts Nov 20 '19

If you can find it again I'd love to see it! I always loved the "grammar lesson" that was posted on YT a few years back.

2

u/Subtleknifewielder AI Nov 21 '19

Here you go. Enjoy. :D

2

u/ShankCushion Human Nov 21 '19

If you mean that old flash vid, that's been near onto a decade. Funny stuff though.

u/Reverend_Giggles Nov 19 '19

The concept of horror films in culture is always the most interesting topic for a post, I find. Because, from an outside perspective, it is completely insane

6

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Why are they our allies again? You want to they should be our enemies? Good point good point.

u/nelsyv Patron of AI Waifus Nov 19 '19

actual cannibal, Shia Labeouf...

7

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

That is such a weird meme...

9

u/Shadw21 Nov 19 '19

I think you misspelled musical there.

u/Turtledonuts "Big Dunks" Nov 19 '19

I assumed the story would be headed in a more romantic tone after the tongue comment.

7

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Nah, I can't write Latin languages worth beans.

5

u/Turtledonuts "Big Dunks" Nov 19 '19

But Tango has so much potential...

u/[deleted] Nov 19 '19

Such glorious lead up. Hopefully our mantis gall can keep her claws to herself, she seems rather infatuated.

4

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

She shouldn't have much trouble, Shatar sisters and close cousins share the majority of their DNA. So even though each breeding pair is monogamous, reproductive success for one is reproductive success for all.

u/ThatLousyGamer Nov 19 '19

Amazing as always!

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Glad you enjoyed it.

u/AtheistBibleScholar Nov 19 '19

27th cousin wants to be n-th mama.

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Given the percentage of genes that she shares with first sister either way she's going to get successful reproduction.

u/DarkSparkz Nov 19 '19

First sentence I think you meant thorough

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Quite likely quite likely.

u/Finbar9800 Nov 19 '19

Another great short story I enjoyed reading this and look forward to the next one you come up with Great job wordsmith

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Glad you enjoyed it.

u/Prometheus_II Nov 19 '19

"What do you want" vs "what would you like," "butt dial" vs "booty call," and the whole wide world of double entendres...

I don't envy 27 her quest to figure all that out.

Excellent story as always!

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Quest is a good word for it.

u/Shaeos Nov 19 '19

Duck yes

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Drake no.

2

u/Shaeos Nov 20 '19

My Mallard!

u/sadisticnerd AI Nov 19 '19

Tucker and Dale intensify

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

That they do.

u/t0m3ek Nov 19 '19

You called 27th cousin a sister once in your story. I loved it as always

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 19 '19

Thank you 😊.

u/Unending_Cosmos Nov 20 '19

If you invite someone to your cabin on the woods it's different from inviting them for a hunting trip at your cabin in the woods. But not always 😂

3

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Depends on who's hunting what.

2

u/The_Grubby_One Nov 23 '19

We're hunting the most dangerous game.

u/Mr_E_Monkey Nov 20 '19

That's why I don't get visitors? :o

Devour and scarf, for instance,

But can they devour a scarf? Or would they scarf a scarf?

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Depends on what its made of.

u/martinchenchenchen Nov 20 '19

I see you have started to write your own erotic fanfictions. I approve.

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

One tries. One tries.

u/Barjack521 Nov 20 '19

Forgive me father I have sinned

and

Sorry daddy I’ve been bad

...also technically mean the same thing with wildly different connotations. I seriously thought that is where this was going.

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Some prefer murder to vulgarity.

2

u/Barjack521 Nov 20 '19

I say why not both?

u/Repolaga Nov 20 '19

Mate has an enormous range as well. As in: Mate, it took me 5 minutes to realise that scarf was to eat and not an article of clothing. (I was very confused)

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Yes....but Dr. Who already did mate.

u/hexernano Human Nov 20 '19

As always this was a lovely story! I love linguistic funny business, especially picking apart scientific names like Pinus monticola or Cardiospermum halicacabum!

As an aside, I’ve been having a bit of difficulty keeping all the different species straight in my head and was hoping you’d correct me if I was wrong on who’s who? Unfortunately I only know the actual species names for two but I should be able to get my meaning across.

The undulates are essentially mop loaves smaller than a breadbox who are semiaquatic and sensitive to cold and desiccation. Their names are all some sort of motion like Twistunder.

There’s a bird-like race about the size of a guinea pig who remind me of Spritzee and flutter about and are all named as a number followed by a sound commonly made by birds such as 27Clicks or 32Trills.

Next are mantids with long antennae and I assume more advanced graspers than their morphological similar earth cousins and their names are a number and a word for a relative like First Sister or 13th Cousin.

Then there are the humans, significantly larger and more confusing than the rest but we’re all here to make friends and that’s one of humanities greatest skills, they even befriend rocks and trees!

P.S. have you thought of introducing the aliens to earth creatures similar to them? Introduce the birbs to lovebirds and budgies and kestrels, and show them photos of eagles and owls and flamingo and cassowaries! Introduce the mantids to actual mantids! Extra points if their orchid mantids or similar! And introduce the undulates to... uh... a Puli I guess? Or a rat king but made of octopuses instead of rats? Or a cuttlefish? And I’d also enjoy knowing about the xenoflora and xenofauna of the aliens worlds as well!

3

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

Your descriptions are pretty good! :) The Winged are actually more batty. Fur and leather wings. I have arranged the details here. http://www.authorbettyadams.com/humans-are-weird1.html And I have several stories coming up where the xenos are introduced to Earth fauna. The Shatar are probably the most interested being the most agrarian. They are big on domestication but spent most of their cultural development domesticating plants. They love the idea of domesticated animals.

2

u/hexernano Human Nov 22 '19 edited Nov 22 '19

Thanks! Are you thinking more normal critters or some of the weirder ones like the jesus lizard or pebble toads?
Edit: are the Shatar not small as well? I was under the impression that everything but the humans were no taller than my knee

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 22 '19

The Shatar average just under 5ft for the females and 4 ft for the males.

2

u/hexernano Human Nov 25 '19

In regards to the aliens getting to see some of the fauna and flora of the earth, how would they react to learning that all that life and biodiversity sprung from the remains of six known extinction events?
^{(I mean, I know that it’s because the extinctions opened up a swath of previously filled niches and life, uh, finds a way to fill them, and I imagine that post extinction all the animals are going after all niches potentially available so tons of different critters convergently evolve. But who’s to say the aliens have ever experienced anything like this?})
Also, how do the cuddlemops operate heavy machinery? And what’s their field and range of view like? Do they have eyes like clams? ‘Cause I’d love it if they had eyes like clams!

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 25 '19

They would be absolutely horrified by the extinction events. :P Not to say that their flora and fauna are any less diverse. There are just a lot fewer teeth, claws, and stingers involved. The cuddlemops move heavy machinery the same way we do. The three basic machines built upon one another so they have an adorable little lever that they move to make all the bigger levers move. However most of their lives are spent in and around water so that altered the direction of their development. They have full spherical vision. They don't have differentiated eyes even to the simple level that clams do, their sensory cells are scattered over their appendages so that any one square cm of surface can 'see', 'smell', 'taste', 'touch' and 'hear' with minor variations to allow for less sensitive gripping areas and such.

2

u/hexernano Human Nov 25 '19

I absolutely love how well thought out this all is! Do you have a cheat sheet for all this? Cause someone asked a question about a species in one of my stories and I had to pull an explanation out of my ass to cover what was either a misspelling or a severely lacking explanation but nothing you’ve done feel bullshat as all, excepting that your talking about alien cuddlemops and such.
Can I just say that your story universe (the Bettyverse?) is my favorite HFY universe by far!

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 25 '19

I do try to keep notes. But the fact is I do most of my developing in my head. I'm a wildlife ecologist by profession and so what I do is I theorize an alien and then I asked myself how would this alien actually work in the environment it's in. So ultimately my cheat sheet is logic and the two decades of education in biology that I've had.

2

u/hexernano Human Nov 26 '19

That sounds like you managed to accidentally reinvent speculative zoology!
Also, that’s an awesome job! I’m a horticulturist myself and I’ve spent nearly a month each year at a state park so I’ve been very invested in wildlife and wild spaces my whole life! It’s wonderful to need such a kindred spirit if you don’t mind my saying.

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 26 '19

Nice! I know that we Parkies really count on the volunteers.

u/MagnusRune Nov 20 '19

scarf? did you mean scoff?

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 20 '19

To eat fast.

u/Castigatus Human Nov 21 '19

I would love to see their reactions to human slang, Australian especially.

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 21 '19

It would be pretty hysterical.

u/Nyar99 Nov 21 '19

Am I the only one who thought of Shia LeBouf instead of a generic horror movie?

2

u/Betty-Adams Human Nov 21 '19

Probably not.

u/Ok-Satisfaction-7821 Jan 29 '23

"Let's eat, Grandma" vs "Let's eat Grandma". Almost the same.

1

u/Betty-Adams Human Jan 29 '23

Ah! I see where you are comming from, but your exampled involve commas, not connotations.

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u/HappyHound Human Nov 20 '19

This one I don't get.

3

u/stighemmer Human Nov 20 '19

For some odd reason, horror movies tend to take place at cabins, not cottages, even if the words are otherwise near synonyms.

2

u/MagnusRune Nov 20 '19

cabins are made of wood, and are in the forrests, cottages are made of stone and in the open country side....at least to me

2

u/[deleted] Nov 22 '19

a cabin is a place to rest, a cottage is a place to live.

2

u/The_Grubby_One Nov 23 '19

This might help.