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Mary vs Dumb - What's the difference?

mary | dumb |

As a noun mary

is (gay slang|chiefly|us) a male homosexual.

As an adjective dumb is

(label) unable to speak; lacking power of speech.

As a verb dumb is

to silence.

mary

English

(wikipedia Mary)

Proper noun

(Marys)
  • .
  • * 1821 Lord Byron, Don Juan : Canto the Fifth: IV:
  • I have a passion for the name of Mary , / For once it was a magic sound to me: / And still it half calls up the realm of fairy / Where I beheld what never was to be.
  • * 1830 Mary Russell Mitford, Our Village: Cottage Names :
  • Mary , which is as common as a white violet, and like that has something indestructibly sweet and simple, and fit for all wear, high or low, suits the cottage or the palace, the garden or the field, the pretty and the ugly, the old and the young;
  • * 1905 , Forty-Five Minutes from Broadway , Mary is a Grand Old Name ( a song)
  • For it was Mary'; '''Mary''' / Plain as any name can be / But with propriety, society / Will say "Marie". / But it was '''Mary'''; ' Mary / Long before the fashions came / And there's something there that sounds so square / It's a grand old name.
  • The Virgin Mary, the mother of Christ.
  • * :
  • Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
  • The 19th sura (chapter) of the Quran
  • Any of several other women in the New Testament, notably Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha.
  • * :
  • Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
  • (Ireland, dated) A middle name for a male, given in honour of the Virgin Mary.
  • Usage notes

    * The given name was considered too sacred to use before the end of the 12th century. It was very popular from the 17th to the 20th century.

    Derived terms

    * Marian * Bloody Mary * Mary Ann * Mary Jane

    Coordinate terms

    * Amina

    Anagrams

    * * ----

    dumb

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) dumb, from (etyl) . In ordinary spoken English, a phrase like "He is dumb" is interpreted as "He is stupid" rather than "He lacks the power of speech". The latter example, however, is the original sense of the word. The senses of stupid'', ''unintellectual'', and ''pointless developed under the influence of the (etyl) word dumm.

    Adjective

    (er)
  • (label) Unable to speak; lacking power of speech.
  • * Hooker
  • to unloose the very tongues even of dumb creatures
  • (label) Silent; unaccompanied by words.
  • dumb show
  • * Shakespeare
  • This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
  • *
  • * J. C. Shairp
  • to pierce into the dumb past
  • extremely stupid.
  • You are so dumb ! You don't even know how to make toast!
  • (label) Pointless, foolish, lacking intellectual content or value.
  • This is dumb ! We're driving in circles! We should have asked for directions an hour ago!
    Brendan had the dumb job of moving boxes from one conveyor belt to another.
  • Lacking brightness or clearness, as a colour.
  • * De Foe
  • Her stern was painted of a dumb white or dun color.
    Synonyms
    * (unable to speak) dumbstruck, mute, speechless, wordless * (stupid) feeble-minded, idiotic, moronic, stupid * banal, brainless, dopey, silly, stupid, ridiculous, vulgar
    Derived terms
    * dumb as a box of rocks * dumben * dumbhood * dummy * dumbness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) dumbien, from (etyl) dumbian (more commonly in compound .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To silence.
  • * 1911 , Lindsay Swift, William Lloyd Garrison , p. 272,
  • The paralysis of the Northern conscience, the dumbing of the Northern voice, were coming to an end.
  • To make stupid.
  • * 2003 , Angela Calabrese Barton, Teaching Science for Social Justice , p. 124,
  • I think she's dumbing us down, so we won't be smarter than her.
  • To represent as stupid.
  • * 2004 , Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man's Journey Out of Africa , p. 107,
  • Bad-mouthing Neanderthals . . . is symptomatic of a need to exclude and even demonize. . . . I suggest that the unproven dumbing of the Neanderthals is an example of the same cultural preconception.
  • To reduce the intellectual demands of.
  • * 2002 , Deborah Meier, In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing , p. 126,
  • The ensuing storm caused the department to lower the bar—amid protests that this was dumbing the test down—so that only 80 percent of urban kids would fail.
    Derived terms
    * dumbness * dumb blonde * dumb down * dumbocracy * dumb-show * dumb terminal * dummy * play dumb