Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 December 21

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December 21

"earth" for ground in English

In what contexts does it work to call the ground where people stand on "earth" in English? They are synonyms in context of Ground (electricity). The idiom "down to earth" uses it in this way, if I understand it correctly. But otherwise, this does work so well - or does it? Where / where not? --KnightMove (talk) 17:48, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

KnightMove, the words "ground", "soil" and "earth" are rough synonyms in this context. Soil is the least ambiguous and refers to the loose material that most plants grow in. Ground has strong connotations of the surface of dry land with underground referring to beneath the surface. Earth has, I believe, more literary and poetic connotations, as in The Good Earth, the 1931 novel about Chinese village life by Pearl S. Buck. Useful things can be made out of earth, as in Earthenware and Rammed earth construction. Earth carries strong connotations of the frank practicalities of everyday life, as in the idiom you mentioned. When someone is engaging in wild speculation, you might say, "It is time to come back to earth". Cullen328 (talk) 18:16, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

I think "ground" might well be paved or indoors (but not an upper story), whereas "earth" would generally not be. --Trovatore (talk) 20:29, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

In the latter idiom, I think "Earth" refers to the planet Earth; it is said to someone who appears adrift untethered in space.  --Lambiam 19:19, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

According to the Collins English Dictionary, If you say that someone is down-to-earth, you approve of the fact that they concern themselves with practical things and actions, rather than with abstract theories. Cullen328 (talk) 20:11, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Some Christians believe it is time for Jesus to come back to Earth.  --Lambiam 11:42, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

The word "wikt:earth" means the planet (as opposed to the sky, the Heavens, outer space, or other planets), and soil (as opposed to bare rocks, pavement, or a thick foundation of ice). The word "wikt:ground" means the flat surface at ground level that you can stand on (as opposed to anything above or below it). So a "ground floor" is the level of a building that's at the same height as the ground outside, but an "earth floor" is made of dirt. For me at least, "ground" is an adaptable, everyday word, and "earth" is more restricted to certain contexts and phrases. --Amble (talk) 20:30, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Some of us distinguish between earth (dirt) and Earth (the planet). --Trovatore (talk) 21:18, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

Yes, but that's also context-dependent. For example, English translations of Genesis 1:1 don't tend to use a capital letter [1]. Phrases like wikt:down-to-earth and wikt:on earth are not usually capitalized (although they could be). --Amble (talk) 21:36, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm not sure "down-to-earth" is talking about the planet. It's true that the proper-noun status of the planet is inconsistent in general usage, probably because historically Earth was not really thought of as a "place", given that there was nowhere else you could be. --Trovatore (talk) 21:46, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

"Down-to-earth" is talking about the place rather than the substance (dirt), although not necessarily envisioning that place as a planet. (The example of Genesis 1:1 envisions earth as one place out of a set of two.) But it is a modern understanding that Earth is a ball flying through space like the others, whose names are all proper nouns. Some authors in physical sciences take this one step further and say that Earth, Moon, and Sun should always be used without the definite article: so Earth orbits Sun, and astronauts landed on Moon. --Amble (talk) 23:06, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

When an author writes "Earth" with a majuscule in the idiom "come back to Earth", as some do,^[2][3][4] they are apparently referring to the planet, not to ground-level terra firma.  --Lambiam 11:38, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

"This coffee looks like mud!" "Well, it should - it was ground this morning." <-Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots-> 22:05, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

I had to look up the participle "ground" in the dictionary... nice one. --KnightMove (talk) 02:34, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

I've always wondered if ground squirrels are used for making patties for squirrelburgers.  --Lambiam 11:25, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

And, of course, this explains why Spam is popular on Groundhog day. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 15:46, 22 December 2022 (UTC)

Earth to earth, ashes to ashes. Clarityfiend (talk) 01:50, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

These terms are very dependent on the variety of English. In my (British) English, the surface under my feet outdoors is "the ground": it is only "earth" if it is soil; and it is not "dirt", which is something that I remove by cleaning. But unless I'm talking to Americans, the safety electrical connection is "earth". --ColinFine (talk) 15:29, 24 December 2022 (UTC)

I recently read online that "Mars has earthquakes". I had to think about that for a while... David10244 (talk) 08:45, 27 December 2022 (UTC)