"well read"

[DonZip]

I got into an argument with a friend about the meaning of "well read." I think when some say that someone is "well read" they mean someone who reads often and in many different genres. My friend seems to think the term "well read" is for people who have read all the classics. What are your opinions on the meaning of "well read?"

 

[ions]

I consider someone to be well read when they have read many of the classics and a good amount of modern Literature. When someone has done this they have crossed genres, styles and time periods. Having read every Grisham does not make someone well read.

 

[Shade]

I think it's relative, and basically when someone says 'well-read' they mean 'has read more than I have.' Most of my friends consider me well-read (or widely read), but then they don't read much at all. If they say this, I usually counter that I'm not widely read but narrowly read - I've read quite a lot but mostly in the same vein, ie modern 'literary' fiction or 20th century stuff. I don't read in a wide range of genres (don't read any genres much, really) nor have I read many classics (pre-20th century), so I'm definitely not well-read by either of your definitions!

I think range is the key though, and if I used the phrase 'well read' of someone else I would usually mean that they had read a lot of books of the kind I would respect, ie probably older and modern classics. I have to admit that if someone had read lots of sci-fi, westerns, horror etc. I wouldn't jump to use the phrase 'well read.'

 

[novella]

"Well read" is a somewhat old-fashioned term that has the connotation not just of what one's read but what one has learned from reading. You can be well read on one subject (e.g., he was well read on the poets of his day) or even in one book (he was well read on the Bible and the Apocrypha). But the connotation is that the person knows these things now. Even if you read all of 20th century modernist literature, you're not well read on the subject unless you've retained some knowledge of it and gained some perspective.

A person who is generally well read has read sufficiently around all subjects that a well-educated, erudite person should know about, i.e., science, politics, history, literature, poetry, philosophy.

I would say that I'm well read in literature, poetry, and philosophy, with a passing knowledge of some other things. Victor Davis Hanson is, no doubt, well read on the ancient world, politics, geography, history, Latin, Greek, etc., but not necessarily on modern art and literature.

This is the precise idiomatic meaning of well read. If you want to just take the literal terms for what they mean superficially, then you could say it means a person who has read something well, which is not the meaning at all.

 

[Kookamoor]

There's a bit about the concept of being 'well read' in this thread.

 

[novella]

Kook, you're a natural-born librarian.

 

[Kookamoor]

Kook, you're a natural-born librarian.

Just a good memory!!

 

[Billy]

"Well read" is a somewhat old-fashioned term that has the connotation not just of what one's read but what one has learned from reading. You can be well read on one subject (e.g., he was well read on the poets of his day) or even in one book (he was well read on the Bible and the Apocrypha). But the connotation is that the person knows these things now. Even if you read all of 20th century modernist literature, you're not well read on the subject unless you've retained some knowledge of it and gained some perspective.

A person who is generally well read has read sufficiently around all subjects that a well-educated, erudite person should know about, i.e., science, politics, history, literature, poetry, philosophy.

I would say that I'm well read in literature, poetry, and philosophy, with a passing knowledge of some other things. Victor Davis Hanson is, no doubt, well read on the ancient world, politics, geography, history, Latin, Greek, etc., but not necessarily on modern art and literature.

This is the precise idiomatic meaning of well read. If you want to just take the literal terms for what they mean superficially, then you could say it means a person who has read something well, which is not the meaning at all.

This is exactly how I think of the term, 'well read', Novella. Like you said, it implies that some learning has occurred from all different subjects, not just that a person has read a lot of books.

 

[Stewart]

This is exactly how I think of the term, 'well read', Novella. Like you said, it implies that some learning has occurred from all different subjects, not just that a person has read a lot of books.

I would consider well-read to be a catholic knowledge of books spanning literature, encyclopaedias, and guides. Someone with knowledge of specific areas I would consider well-versed.

 

[novella]

I would also prefer that usage, Stewart--it's definitely the more accepted--but 'well read' is correct usage in this context.

 

[SFG75]

I consider someone to be well read when they have read many of the classics and a good amount of modern Literature. When someone has done this they have crossed genres, styles and time periods. Having read every Grisham does not make someone well read.

Excellent comments-I couldn't agree more.

 

[HermioneWeasley]

i consider osmeone well read if they read instead of lie around all day(obviously)and if they're read at least some classics. like, i expect well read peiple to be familiar with homer and the trojan war, know who alexandre dumas is, and stuff like that. of course that woudl classify my friend as not very well read, seing as she barely knows what the trojan war is!

 

[Libre]

i consider osmeone well read if they read instead of lie around all day(obviously)and if they're read at least some classics. like, i expect well read peiple to be familiar with homer and the trojan war, know who alexandre dumas is, and stuff like that. of course that woudl classify my friend as not very well read, seing as she barely knows what the trojan war is!

As everyone who is "well read" knows, the Trojan War was the dispute that arose when they tried to get high schools to supply condoms to the student body.

 

[HermioneWeasley]

lol. yeah, i read the illiad in russian, and now i know why it's called the illiad, my latin teacher explained it to me. ok, maybe that was kinda random but whatever.

 

[SFG75]

As everyone who is "well read" knows, the Trojan War was the dispute that arose when they tried to get high schools to supply condoms to the student body.

LOL-Sadly, that's the first thing kids think of when you say the word "trojan."

 

[Stewart]

the Trojan War was the dispute that arose when they tried to get high schools to supply condoms to the student body.

It had the effect of turning a few girls into the Trojan whores.

 

[Libre]

LOL-Sadly, that's the first thing kids think of when you say the word "trojan."

Well....I'm not so sure that it is "sad" that kids have sex on their minds, more than ancient Greek epic poems - as good as the poems might be - but, let's not be too judgemental on that score.

 

[WoundedThorns]

well read would have to include both different genres and classics. also, just b/c you've read a classic, it does not mean you understood the concept/meanings of it