Dmitry Anykeen
Benevolent skin cancer? I know what the skin cancer is, but I don't quite understand what the BENEVOLENT skin cancer is. Could you clarify this for me please? (Btw I'm not sure if my sentence is grammatically correct. It would be nice if you'd dispel my doubts)
Mar 10, 2016 3:56 PM
Answers · 4
5
The only person who has ever written the word 'benevolent' before 'skin cancer' is Hemingway, in the Old Man and the Sea: "The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks." Cancer is never usually described as benevolent. Some critics believe Hemingway deliberately used the wrong word, others view it as an uncorrected error. The usual term is 'benign', meaning not harmful. This is the opposite of 'malign'.
March 10, 2016
2
... and btw, your question is fine apart from the unnecessary articles. Diseases don't take articles. It should be ' I know what skin cancer is, but I don't quite understand what benevolent skin cancer is.'
March 10, 2016
Did you mean benign skin cancer? Cancers can be malignant (the dangerous ones) or benign (the not so dangerous ones).
March 10, 2016
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