Make Your Point: CARP

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CARP

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

pronounce CARP:

KARP

connect this word to others:

I'm amused by restaurant reviews. People will carp about anything, and it's very silly: "The meal was great, but the waiter frowned at us once. Three stars." "Best meal I've ever had, but my menu was sticky. Two stars."

We can refer to petty complaints like that as carps, or qui__les, or cav__s. Can you recall both of those synonyms?

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Unrelated to the fish "carp," the verb "carp" means "to complain, or to nitpick about things that don't matter."

This verb came into English from Old Norse and might have been influenced by the Latin carpere, which means "to slander, to revile," or more literally "to pluck." So when it seems that someone is bringing up stupid little complaints, as if plucking little hairs off a sweater, say that they're carping.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the intransitive kind: "They keep carping;" "They carped about the food the whole way home."

Other forms:

Carped, carping, carper(s).

how to use it:

Pick the sharp, snippy-sounding, semi-common word "carp" when you want to complain about people complaining.

Say that people are carping about something, or carping at things or other people, or carping that something is true ("He carped that the shower was too small").

People might carp at someone for doing something ("She carped at him for leaving the door unlocked") or carp at someone to do something ("She carped at him to lock the door"). And people can just carp: "Some peace would have been nice, but they kept carping."

examples:

"Fans and critics increasingly carped that the picture quality for some 3D movies did not justify the premium pricing."
— Staff, Reuters, 2 January 2011

"Ah yes, the complaints: people have carped about everything [on the show Downton Abbey] from the too-modern language to the mention of a historically inaccurate hamster."
— Emine Saner, The Guardian, 19 December 2010

has this page helped you understand "carp"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "carp" without saying "complain" or "criticize."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "Rather than carping about (some annoyance), I (fix it somehow, or focus on something else)."

Example: "Rather than carping about who left a smudge of Nutella on the door frame, I wipe it clean and move on."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for May is "Color Your Own Colloquialism."

I'll give you the outline of a colloquialism, from English or translated from another language, along with its definition, and you create your own version of it. Your version can be goofy, straightforward, or unrepeatable in polite company: just have fun with it! To see the real version of the colloquialism, scroll all the way down.

Try this one today:

Meaning: "To be very mentally confused, to go crazy."

Outline: "To have a (specific animal) loose (in some uppermost area)."

review this word:

1. The opposite of CARP could be

A. ANALYZE.
B. IMITATE.
C. COMPLIMENT.

2. In an experiment called _____, David Cain set out to quit carping.

A. An Attack on Procrastination
B. 21 Days Without Complaining
C. Decluttering Using the KonMari Method

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CARP Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.

Subscribe to "Make Your Point" for a daily vocabulary boost.

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > CARP

Send Make Your Point issues straight to your inbox.