Difference between stupid and dumb

[Kitosdad]

Hello Hamed, it means, " I have used those tablets that you recommended.
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Englishman living in Germany.

[Adalgisa Pena]

Dumb is
1. Unintelligent: regarded as having or showing a low level of intelligence ( informal insult )

2. offensive term: an offensive term meaning unable to speak

3. temporarily speechless: temporarily unable to speak because of shock, fear, surprise, or anger

4. done without speech: performed or expressed without using speech

Stupid is
1. regarded as unintelligent: regarded as showing a lack of intelligence, perception, or common sense
a stupid mistake

2. silly: irritatingly silly or time-wasting "had us playing stupid games"

3. adds emphasis: used to express anger, annoyance, or frustration ( informal )
I can't get the stupid thing to work!

Adalgisa

[Yuri Yurinov]

Hello, Alan!
I've made one mistake in the last text. On the one hand, the mistake was rather silly and I was only to think a little more, on the other hand - the phrasal verbs are my weakest point. I've put 'off' instead of 'away'. Would you mind explaining me difference, please?
Best regards.
Yuri.
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An interested teacher, interesting lessons, interested pupils - these are three sides of a triangle named 'teaching'.

[Alimjang]

Hi! sir torsten..
I got two out of ten because vocabulary is defficult to me. Can you please tell me how to study vocabulary ? thank's sir torsten.. have a nice weekend.

[Kitosdad]

Upon reflection, I agree with Alan..... Dumb is an inability to form words, and therefore in the context of this quiz, ( English ) stupid is the only correct answer.

If the students are here to learn English, then let them learn it .
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Englishman living in Germany.

[Kitosdad]

Alimjang, everything you need is on the home page. Read all of the articles written by Alan. You will increase your vocabulary, and in the proper context, faster than reading a dictionary.

Kitos.
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Englishman living in Germany.

[Alimjang]

THANKS SIR KITOS

[RussianBear]

I've chosen the "dumb" option too. I am not a native English speaker, but this variant seems to be pretty natural to me.

[Esl_Expert]

On the North American side of the pond, the word "dumb" would be completely natural and correct in the test sentence. The word "stupid" would also be fine.

Perhaps one of the primary aims of this test was to illustrate one of the differences between American English and British English.

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"Don't be afraid to ask dumb questions. They're more easily handled than dumb mistakes." ~ W.W. Haines

[Shyone]

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I associate dumb with being rendered speechless, or being gobsmacked, not necessarily with being stupid.
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No comment

[Esl_Expert]

The word "dumb" has several meanings. Have you checked American dictionaries, Shyone? Or only British ones?
Click here for definitions of the word "dumb".

I'd say "rendered speechless" would be a good definition for the word "dumbfounded" or "dumbstruck".

The word "stupid" also has a connection with this same sort of idea.
Etymology of the word "stupid"

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"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." ~ Albert Einstein

[Shyone]

Well, I think we are walking a very fine line here, but since I'm in Ireland the American definition is not really relevant to my life as such.

I go with what you'd call the flow of the country I'm living in.
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No comment

[Alan]

Hi Esl_Expert,

I appreciate this new spirit of restraint but I can't help thinking of expressions like 'bee in a bonnet' 'flogging a dead horse' and 'dog with a bone'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Word Story: Weather

[Esl_Expert]

There seem to have been quite a few bees buzzing around in this thread for quite some time now. But why choose such negative imagery, Alan?

When thinking about a bee, some people may think only of a sting.
For others, a bee brings industriousness and honey to mind.

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"How doth the little busy bee improve each shining hour, and gather honey all the day from every opening flower." ~ Isaac Watts

[Nick*]

I remember when I did the multiple choice tests in the secondary school, the heading in the question book always asked us to fill in the “BEST” answers.

Sometimes we found that there were more than one correct answers but sometimes it seemed no correct answer for some specific questions. My teacher told me that usually there was ONLY ONE BEST answer for each question no matter all the answers seemed to be “CORRECT” or “NOT CORRECT”

Example 1:
_______________ is a very hard substance.

(a) Copper
(b) Steel
(c) Iron
(d) Diamond

In the above example, anyone can be the correct answer but only (d) is the best answer.

Example 2:
_______________ is a very hard substance.

(a) Wood
(b) Rubber
(c) Cotton
(d) Foam

In this example, there seems no correct answer but (a) is the best answer.

In our case, if I am asked to choose the “CORRECT” answer, I would say either “stupid” or “dumb” is OK.

If I am asked to select the “BEST” answer, however, I think “stupid” will be the best one to fit although the word “dumb” has almost the same meaning.

I think many questions in our tests may have more than one “CORRECT” answers. May I suggest putting the heading of the tests to ask the students to select the “BEST” answer in order to eliminate any misunderstanding and controversy ?

Nick