WHAT EXACTLY IS ADEQUATE? A blog just for fun!

What exactly does adequate mean?  When someone says something is adequate does it mean it is less than it should be or not quite right or it could be better?  I love the word.  It is my word.  It is a word that doesn't get me in trouble.  It is a questionable word to many.  If you say something is 'adequate' do they scratch their chin and wonder what is wrong with it or do they assume you are not happy with it, or do they see it as a positive? Do they see it as something that is okay but needs improvement. It can be a bad word or a good word, it all depends on perception!

Examples of ADEQUATE

1. The garden hasn't been getting adequate water.
2. The food was more than adequate for the six of us.
3. The school lunch should be adequate to meet the nutritional needs of growing children.
4. The machine does an adequate job.
5. The tent should provide adequate protection from the elements.
6. The quality of his work was perfectly adequate.
7. Your grades are adequate but I think you can do better.
8. The quality of his work was only adequate.
9. Then, during the spring and summer, allow adequate recovery by taking one or two days off the bike each week and scaling back the intensity of your rides one week out of every month. —Selene Yeager, Bicycling, January/February 2008

 

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Synonyms

acceptable, all right, decent, fairish, fine, good, OK (or okay), passable, respectable, satisfactory, serviceable, tolerable, up to snuff

Antonyms

deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wanting

Related Words

agreeable, bearable, endurable, sufferable; average, fair, indifferent, mediocre, middling, minimal; common, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, run-of-the-mine (or run-of-mine), second-rate, so-so; standard, unexceptional; appropriate, correct, due, fitting, meet, proper, right, seemly, suitable, useful, worthy; gratifying, satisfying

Yesterday a dear friend asked me how my dog was doing and how I was feeling.  My response after a short pause was one word, "Adequate."  She said "Adequate, I love that word."  I told her it was my word, and then later I wondered why it should be mine.

I guess I have been known to pretty much tell it like it is! Yes me! So now I try to 'soft soap' it, as my grandma used to say.  Instead of saying what I really think or feel, I simply say 'adequate'.  Feelings aren't hurt this way, and people stop dead in their tracks because they really don't know what you mean when you say adequate, nor do they know how to respond. I get tired of explaining to people that I am not feeling "up to par". 

Now I say I am adequate. Acceptable but not remarkable ~ just adequate. I have told the checkout lady at the supermarket when asked 'How are you."  My response ~ 'Adequate'.  Same goes for multiple other people that ask how you are, but you know they don't really care...it is just a statement...a question...with no real desire to know how you are in the slightest. It throws them off track, just as it did my friend. 

So today is an adequate day.  I want to feel like it is a perfectly wonderful day.  But today all I can muster is 'adequate'.  There are just some days like that...and today is one of them.

Could you tell I am an English major? Could you tell I am inspired and motivated to bring a smile to faces I have never seen before, when they robotically ask how you are.