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Scenario vs Situation - What's the difference?

scenario | situation |

As nouns the difference between scenario and situation

is that scenario is an outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work while situation is the way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.

scenario

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work.
  • A screenplay itself, or an outline or a treatment of it.
  • An outline or model of an expected or supposed sequence of events.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=August 23 , author=Alasdair Lamont , title=Hearts 0-1 Liverpool , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Hearts were keen to avoid a repeat of the scenario at this stage of last season's competition, when they found themselves two goals down inside the opening quarter of an hour.}}

    Derived terms

    * worst case scenario

    See also

    * scenarii (hypercorrect plural) ----

    situation

    English

    Alternative forms

    * scituation

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The way in which something is positioned vis-à-vis its surroundings.
  • * 1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows) :
  • ...he being naturally an underground animal by birth and breeding, the situation of Badger's house exactly suited him and made him feel at home; while the Rat, who slept every night in a bedroom the windows of which opened on a breezy river, naturally felt the atmosphere still and oppressive.
  • The place in which something is situated; a location.
  • * 1833 , Thomas Hibbert and Robert Buist, The American Flower Garden Directory , page 142:
  • [Hibíscus] speciòsus is the most splendid, and deserves a situation in every garden.
  • Position or status with regard to conditions and circumstances.
  • The combination of circumstances at a given moment; a state of affairs.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.}}
  • (UK, dated) A position of employment; a post.
  • * 1913 , , (Sons and Lovers) , Penguin 2006, page 78:
  • When he was nineteen, he suddenly left the 'Co-op' office, and got a situation in Nottingham.
  • * 1946 , Vaughn Horton, Denver Darling, Milt Gabler, :
  • You take a morning paper from the top of the stack
    And read the situations from the front to the back
    The only job that's open need a man with a knack
    So put it right back in the rack Jack.
  • A difficult or unpleasant set of circumstances; a problem.
  • Boss, we've got a situation here...

    Synonyms

    * (combination of circumstances) condition, set up

    See also

    * situation comedy, sitcom

    References

    * Source for the definitions: ** Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/situation] (accessed: March 10, 2007). * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----