webox
wanting = desire... is it correct? On some ESL resources I met the expression "Thanks for wanting to be my friend." The last time I came across it here in the glitter (the second comment on the bottom of the page) http://my.englishclub.com/profile/ChristinaYarosh It sounds for me a little bit stange. But I am not a native speaker and can't rely on my feelings. So, please tell me what it is - kind of slang, bad English or just everything is alright with it? P.S. I looked up to dictionaries for this word. Macmillan and Merriam-Webster do not provide such a meaning (wanting=desire). So, I am puzzled and need your help... By the way, can you suggest a few ways how to say the same thing (about friendship) to sound naturally in English. :) Thanks in advance.I admit I got some quite unexpected answers. I will try to ask again. I mean "wanting" in the context... that is in the sentence "Thank you for wanting to be my friend" (social network, nothing about sex or so). Dictionaries provide the meaning just of an adjective "wanting" and, actually, nothing in common with friendship (somewhat like "not as good as something should be"). Needless to say I know the meaning of the verb "to want"... To the extent as I understood, the expression "thanks for wanting" is not used in ordinary conversation, just on the internet. Correct me if I am wrong... = = = What I wanted to make sure about the expression "thanks for wanting" = = = 1) If it is correct gramatically, what is "wanting" here - a noun, a gerund... what? 2) Is it correct in lexical sense? If so, why was it missed in the most popular dictionaries? This circumstance confuses me. 3) Is it correct stylistically? ( would you use this sentence or expressed better yourself in the other way? a- in social network; b- in real conversation) 4) In what cases can the expression "thanks for wanting" be used? Can it be used somewhere else besides the internet? .... Besides, we don't say "I am wanting", do we? • • • Please look up for the meaning of WANTING in these same dictionaries. • • • This circumstance confuses me the most :( The words "to want", "to desire", "to wish" are familiar for me... That's not the case when I can't make the difference between them...
May 18, 2011 8:35 PM
Answers · 7
1
When you want something you need it ,desire it or wish to have it. In your case it could mean one or all of them. It is a simple way to express the desire to be one's friend. It is not really slang and it is correct. 'I want to be your friend." "Thanks for wanting to be my friend." What sounds weird ,is that it is not often said in a normal speech, you don't usually verbally thank someone for wanting to be your friend or at least you don't express it this way,but the sentence is correct and would be often used as an online post ,in an email or a letter rather than be spoken words in real life.
May 18, 2011
webox, 1) If it is correct gramatically, what is "wanting" here - a noun, a gerund... what? It is correct grammatically and is a gerund. 2) Is it correct in lexical sense? If so, why was it missed in the most popular dictionaries? This circumstance confuses me. Thank you for wanting...is not an idiom. In your sentence 'wanting' is used to mean "thanks for feeling that you would like to be my friend." The circumstance in which it is used is a special circumstance. To become someone's friend on a social website is a matter of clicking and accepting an offer of friendship. It doesn't take any more than wanting to do it. In real life a friendship is not always possible just because you want it. A real life friendship is much more complex. 3) Is it correct stylistically? ( would you use this sentence or expressed better yourself in the other way? a- in social network; b- in real conversation) Yes, it is correct stylistically. You basically are saying "thank you for choosing to be my internet friend". It is also possible in real conversation but the meaning would be different. If I said, "Thank you for wanting to be my friend." in a real life conversation it would mean: The person wanted to be your friend, but in fact, it never got passed the point of wanting, it never turned into reality. Or it could express the idea of a temporary friendship. Examples: Thank you for wanting to be my friend, but you are really not my type. Thank you for wanting to be my friend. I hope you want to be my friend tomorrow. "I am wanting" is possible in conversational English, but not in formal writing. You often come across "I am wanting" in popular songs. It expressing the idea of continuously wanting something or temporarily wanting something. -I am wanting you.....I have been wanting you and am still wanting. -Right now I'm wanting a cherry ice cream cone.
May 20, 2011
Going down your list one by one: 1) It is correct grammaticality. In this sentence, it is a gerund, NOT an adjective. 2) Yes, it is correct lexically. If you simply look up the dictionary entries of the word itself "wanting," from my first Google search the adjective definition is the one that pops up ("lacking or absent"). As this was not being used as an adjective, you're looking at the wrong dictionary entry, so now I finally understand where your confusion was coming from. 3) Honestly? I myself would probably never use this sentence either on a social network or in a real conversation. I guess if I put myself in another people's shoes though, I can see how one could say this on a social network site right after another person accepted his or her friend request. 4) Like I mentioned earlier, the "thanks for wanting" expression is something that sounds weird to me, and I've never really heard it said anytime in which it didn't sound awkward. A case where it might seem feasible to say this though might be something like: "Thanks for wanting to ride with me" - if say, the driver was feeling lonely and he was thanking someone for keeping him company. IDK. Hope that this answer was more helpful.
May 19, 2011
You don't say "Thank you for wanting to be my friend" but "Thank you for agreeing to be my friend" or "Thank you for agreeing to be my language partner"
May 18, 2011
It's perfectly good English. To be honest, it does seem a little awkward to me, but that could just be my personal opinion. In all respects concerning grammar and whatnot though, there's nothing wrong with it. As for the word "wanting" meaning "to desire," yes, it essentially does mean that. This online dictionary actually lists it as its first definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/want. However, desire isn't really used in common, everyday speech. For example: "I want you to clean your room." "I desire that you clean your room." The meaning is the exact same but the second sounds a whole lot stranger. Also, desire seems to me to be a bit more of an intense word in general as well, and to me often indicates passion, love, romance, etc. For example: "I desire to marry you." / "I desire you." "I want to marry you." / "I want you." Again, same meanings, but the first two sentences demonstrate a much more stronger feeling of wanting. Like I said earlier though, it still is a bit unnatural to say in everyday speech, so even then I'm not too sure that those two sentences would be used all that often. Probably only when the guy is really trying to lay on the romance. ;) For a much more natural way of saying "Thanks for wanting to be my friend" but to have the same meaning, I would probably say something like these: "I'm glad that we can be friends." "Thanks for being my friend." Hope that I helped!
May 18, 2011
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