I bought a car. The first time I drove it to church and was so proud of it. When I came out, there were two more, almost identical to it to either side.

I went home and told my husband what a popular car it is! He said it was just a common car.

We disagreed on this for years till I sold that car.

The words popular and common are very similar in meaning, but to me, common has a negative connotation. But was it just the way my husband put it to me?

No, Morgan, I agree with you that "common" has a negative connotation, while "popular" has a positive one. I researched the 2 words and found that "popular" has definitions more like "widely appreciated", while "common" has definitions more like "ordinary". There you have it!

I agree. The phrase "a common thief" has always made me smile since it seems that the person using it is looking down his or her nose at the person in question as compared to, say, the "Human Fly" criminal mastermind variety of thief who shimmies up 20 stories to remove gold fillings from the mouths of sleeping victims undetected.

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I went home and told my husband what a popular car it is!
He said it was just a common car.
We disagreed on this for years till I sold that car.



As the old punchline says, "You're right, too."

"Common" has positive and negative meanings. There is common-vs-scarce, common-vs-refined, common-vs-royal, and often it's only the tone of voice that gives it positive or negative connotation.

Which one is it in "common sense" ?

(P.S. "Popular" can be used disparagingly, too...that's the kind of thing that makes language so interesting, and mechanical translation so difficult!)

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Mon Apr 28th, 2003 at 14:14.]

[This message was edited by haberdasher on Mon Apr 28th, 2003 at 14:14.]