Correct usage: "verbal" or "oral"? - Democratic Underground

mac56

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:19 PM
Original message

Correct usage: "verbal" or "oral"?

Edited on Tue Feb-24-04 01:19 PM by mac56

When applied to spoken-word interviews. (huh-huh....he said "oral"...)

Neither seems quite right. Any interview is "verbal", of course, because they all involve words. On the other hand, as a friend of mine once said: "The interviewers wanted me for an oral exam. Why they need to look at my teeth, I'll never know."

So which is it?

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pagerbear

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:22 PM
Response to Original message

1. They sort of overlap

Verbal = anything having to do with words
Oral = anything having to do with the mouth, including the teeth inside it and the words that come out of it

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Whitacre D_WI

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:24 PM
Response to Original message

2. Verbal sex leaves me unsatisfied.

:shrug:

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boxster

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. Damn, you beat me to it.

}(

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BurtWorm

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:24 PM
Response to Original message

4. "Oral exam" is idiomatic at the very least.

I've never heard of verbal exams. It also makes the most sense if you're trying to distinguish between something written and something spoken. Of course, why not just call them spoken exams? :shrug:

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baby_bear

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Tue Feb-24-04 01:28 PM
Response to Original message

5. "oral" is correct

...from a legal standpoint, such as an "oral agreement" that is legally binding (or not). "Verbal" would not be correct in that context.

From a literary standpoint, there is more flexibility.

s_m

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Shananigans

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Tue Feb-24-04 02:52 PM
Response to Original message

6. I'm all about the oral...er...

wait a second...what do you mean by this?

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arwalden

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Tue Feb-24-04 03:06 PM
Response to Original message

7. Would You Like To Engage In Oral Intercourse?

Mr. Roberts? Are you paying attention, Oral?

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Qutzupalotl

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Tue Feb-24-04 03:08 PM
Response to Original message

8. Oral.

They all use words, but only spoken ones are oral.

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