# brace for another hurricane



## kansi

HAVANA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ken Hutton is worried Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas where he lives is far from rebuilt after being devastated by Hurricane Dorian last year yet he is *bracing* for another hurricane season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The business consultant feels lucky to have survived Dorian, which tore the hurricane shutters off his house and sucked out the windows.

Does that brace mean to prepare for something unpleasant?

( If it means so,) I think just say "prepare" would also work but brace would be higher register since it has more specific meaning than prepare.Is it correct?


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## You little ripper!

Brace - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

to prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant: couldn't brake in time and braced herself for the crash.


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## kansi

You little ripper! said:


> Brace - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
> 
> to prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant: couldn't brake in time and braced herself for the crash.


I edited it.Could you read it again?


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> HAVANA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ken Hutton is worried Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas where he lives is far from rebuilt after being devastated by Hurricane Dorian last year yet he is *bracing* for another hurricane season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
> 
> The business consultant feels lucky to have survived Dorian, which tore the hurricane shutters off his house and sucked out the windows.
> 
> Does that brace mean to prepare for something unpleasant?
> 
> ( If it means so,) I think just say "prepare" would also work but brace would be higher register since it has more specific meaning than prepare.Is it correct?


It's nothing to do with register - it's just more specific.  Prepare, which is neutral, does not carry the meaning of getting ready for something unpleasant that is carried in the word "brace".


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> It's nothing to do with register - it's just more specific.  Prepare, which is neutral, does not carry the meaning of getting ready for something unpleasant that is carried in the word "brace".


I mean I imagined that people would say "prepare for another hurricane" , not "brace for another hurricane" in daily conversation. Is it true?


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> I mean I imagined that people would say "prepare for another hurricane" , not "brace for another hurricane" in daily conversation. Is it true?


NO!  Prepare is neutral.  Brace simply has a different meaning. It is NOT a formality or register issue. you are making way too much of such distinctions 
As a reminder of the post above:


JulianStuart said:


> It's nothing to do with register - it's just more specific.  Prepare, which is neutral, does not carry the meaning of getting ready for something unpleasant that is carried in the word "brace".


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> NO!  Prepare is neutral.  Brace simply has a different meaning. It is NOT a formality or register issue. you are making way too much of such distinctions
> As a reminder of the post above:


Prepare doesn't carry the meaning of getting ready??
Okay, then I imagined that people would say "get ready for another hurricane" , not "brace for another hurricane" in daily conversation. Is it true?


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## heypresto

kansi said:


> Prepare doesn't carry the meaning of getting ready??


Yes, of course it does. 

Brace for another hurricane.  
Brace yourself/yourselves for another hurricane.


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## kansi

heypresto said:


> Yes, of course it does.


Oh okay..I am confused. Probably I misunderstood something.I was told:

It's nothing to do with register - it's just more specific. *Prepare, which is neutral, does not carry the meaning of getting ready for something unpleasant that is carried in the word "brace".*

"prepare for another hurricane" doesn't work?


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## Myridon

In the literal sense, this meaning of "brace" is just a more specific version of "to furnish, fasten, or strengthen with or as if with a brace."  You brace for a collision by holding on to something your surroundings and stiffening as the crash is about to happen.
You can prepare for a hurricane that might not happen.  You can build your house on higher ground, for example.  You are prepared for the hurricane but you are not braced.  You can keep a lot of bottled water in your house.  You can buy boards to board up the windows.  You can get storm shutters for your windows.  All those things a preparing, not bracing.
I bought a tool for my car that cuts the seat belts and breaks the windows in case I am ever in a crash and can't open the seat belts or the doors for some reason.  I am prepared for a crash, but I don't drive around braced for a crash (my body in a position to protect myself and others in the car).
Bracing is about preparing for things that are definitely going to happen soon.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> Prepare doesn't carry the meaning of getting ready??


Of course brace means get ready - see post #2, for example.


kansi said:


> Okay, then I imagined that people would say "get ready for another hurricane" , not "brace for another hurricane" in daily conversation. Is it true?


Did you not read my posts 4 and 6 carefully ??   We use _prepare_ for when the pleasantness of the event is not relevant.  We can prepare for a luxurious meal or we can prepare for a hurricane. It has a broader use than "brace for" and, as noted several times, is less specific than brace for.
Perhaps you misundersrtood this post .  The sense of "something unpleasant" is PART OF THE MEANING of brace.


JulianStuart said:


> It's nothing to do with register - it's just more specific.  Prepare, which is neutral, does not carry the meaning of *getting ready for something unpleasant* that is carried in the word "brace".


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## kansi

Myridon said:


> I am prepared for a crash, but I don't drive around braced for a crash


Sorry are you saying not driving around isn't bracing for a crash?


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## Myridon

kansi said:


> Sorry are you saying not driving around isn't bracing for a crash?


I am prepared (in the state "prepared") for a crash, but I don't drive my car various places in the state "braced for a crash".
People on an airplane wear seat belts, listen to the lesson on how to use the emergency exits, etc but they do not spend the whole flight like this:


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## heypresto

kansi said:


> Sorry are you saying not driving around isn't bracing for a crash?



Brace yourself for this: Yes.

Imagine you are driving along, and a lorry or truck pulls out in front of you a little way ahead. You don't have much time to brake, and even when you do try to brake, they fail. So you know you are going to crash. You will probably tense your body, or in some way prepare yourself for a collision.

_That _would be called 'bracing yourself'.

Now you can extend this idea to bracing yourself for a hurricane.


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> We use _prepare_ for when the pleasantness of the event is not relevant.


So we can't say "prepare for some hurricane" because we use prepare for  something pleasant?


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## Myridon

kansi said:


> So we can't say "prepare for some hurricane" because we use prepare for  something pleasant?


I've already given you several examples of preparing for a hurricane. If you're not going to read the posts, we can't help you.


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## heypresto

Yes, you can prepare for a hurricane, but it's not the same as bracing yourself for one. As has been said 'prepare' is neutral'.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> So we can't say "prepare for some hurricane" because we use prepare for  something pleasant?


PLEASE read the posts more carefully if you wish us to continue to spend time helping.


JulianStuart said:


> We use _prepare_ for when the pleasantness of the event is not relevant. We can prepare for a luxurious meal or * we can prepare for a hurricane. *


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## kansi

heypresto said:


> _That _would be called 'bracing yourself'


Okay..I kind of have the sense of brace.It's like we brace ourself for something with something we can do at the time when we know it will soon happen (so there are a lot more ways to prepare for something but you can do only some of them when we know it will happen soon because some of them take a lot of time or steps.


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## kansi

heypresto said:


> Yes, you can prepare for a hurricane, but it's not the same as bracing yourself for one. As has been said 'prepare' is neutral'.


I read your post.Something we can do to prepare for a hurricane and something we can do to brace for a hurricane are different and the latter would be not many or limited.


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## JulianStuart

Let's try simple again:
Prepare means "get ready for something" - nothing in the meaning of "prepare" tells us about what the something is or how quickly we get ready..
Brace means "get ready for something unpleasant".  If it's not unpleasant, we dont "brace for it".


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## kentix

Prepare is used for anything you plan and get ready for. You can prepare for a trip, you can prepare for a hurricane, you can prepare for a fancy dinner by putting on your best clothes, you can prepare for guests arriving to stay with you by getting beds ready for them to sleep in, you can prepare for a possible fire in your house by buying a fire extinguisher.

You only use the word brace for negative things that you see are coming with reasonable certainty.

So in the above list you would not brace for a trip because it's not negative nor would you brace for a fancy dinner for the same reason. You wouldn't brace for a fire in your home because, although it's negative, you can't see it coming. 

But you can brace for hurricane season because it's negative (it might bring a hurricane) and you can see the danger coming - hurricane season comes every year at the same time and lasts a number of months. You know any time in those months a hurricane could come. So it fulfills both requirements for brace - it's negative and you have some warning to prepare. The time of year is the warning. In the car crash scenario, seeing the truck coming at you is the warning.


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> Let's try simple again:
> Prepare means "get ready for something" - nothing in the meaning of "prepare" tells us about what the something is or how quickly we get ready..
> Brace means "get ready for something unpleasant".  If it's not unpleasant, we dont "brace for it".


HAVANA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ken Hutton is *worried* Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas where he lives is far from rebuilt after being *devastated* by Hurricane Dorian last year yet he is *bracing* for another hurricane season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

The business consultant feels lucky to have survived Dorian, which *tore* the hurricane shutters off his house and sucked out the windows.

We can prepare for a hurricane. But we can't use "preparing for" at "bracing for" in the sentence.(Because the context has the sense of being unpleasant made by ,for example, those underlined.) That's what you have been telling?


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## kansi

kentix said:


> Prepare is used for anything you plan and get ready for. You can prepare for a trip, you can prepare for a hurricane, you can prepare for a fancy dinner by putting on your best clothes, you can prepare for guests arriving to stay with you by getting beds ready for them to sleep in, you can prepare for a possible fire in your house by buying a fire extinguisher.
> 
> You only use the word brace for negative things that you see are coming with reasonable certainty.


Thanks!
I can see why I can't use brace for something pleasant.But it sounds like I can use prepare for  something unpleasant. In the op sentence, can we just use "preparing for" instead of bracing for ?Though I know since its context,which is that something unpleasant is going to happen, is a great context to use "brace" because brace is generally used in such contexts.


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## Barque

kansi said:


> But we can't use "preparing for" at "bracing for" in the sentence.


You can.


kansi said:


> Though I know since its context,which is that something unpleasant is going to happen, is a great context to use "brace" because brace is generally used in such contexts.


I don't about "generally", but it is used in such contexts, yes.

Very often, there's more than one word that can fit a particular context, though they may not mean exactly the same thing.


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## kentix

Yes, you can use preparing in the original. But they use brace because it fits and it sounds more dramatic. It conveys the feeling of danger that he feels more directly.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> HAVANA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ken Hutton is *worried* Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas where he lives is far from rebuilt after being *devastated* by Hurricane Dorian last year yet he is *bracing* for another hurricane season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
> 
> The business consultant feels lucky to have survived Dorian, which *tore* the hurricane shutters off his house and sucked out the windows.
> 
> *We can prepare for a hurricane*.  But we can't use "preparing for" at "bracing for" in the sentence.(Because the context has the sense of being unpleasant made by ,for example, those underlined.) That's what you have been telling?


YES YOU *CAN* USE "PREPARE" in that sentence. They will be getting ready for the next hurricane season. We can *CHOOSE* to use brace when we want to indicate that what we are preparing for is unpleasant.
Maybe the Venn diagram concept will make it clear?  The meaning of "brace for" is wholly contained inside the bigger circle of the meaning of prepare.  Brace for ALWAYS means prepare for AND prepare for something unpleasant.  The big circle "prepare for" also meand getting ready for all things that are pleasant, unpleasant and neutral


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> Maybe the Venn diagram concept will make it clear? The meaning of "brace for" is wholly contained inside the bigger circle of the meaning of prepare. Brace for ALWAYS means prepare for AND prepare for something unpleasant. The big circle "prepare for" also contains things that are pleasant


Well I had understand it.


JulianStuart said:


> when we want to indicate that what we are preparing for is unpleasant.


This made it all clear. Now I know why some want to use brace for even though prerare for works fine at brace for.


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## kansi

Myridon said:


> I am prepared (in the state "prepared") for a crash, but I don't drive my car various places in the state "braced for a crash".


Ah I see! I now understand that prepared.


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## JulianStuart

JulianStuart said:


> YES YOU *CAN* USE "PREPARE" in that sentence. They will be getting ready for the next hurricane season. We can *CHOOSE* to use brace when we want to indicate that what we are preparing for is unpleasant.





kansi said:


> This made it all clear.


  This is the same as the information posted in #2 above


You little ripper! said:


> Brace - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
> to prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant: couldn't brake in time and braced herself for the crash.


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## Barque

kansi said:


> Now I know why some want to use brace for even though prerare for works fine at brace for.


That's how the language works. 

See the last sentence of my #25. There are often multiple ways to say something. People choose what they want to say and say it.

"Brace" conveys a certain impression. So does "prepare". Sometimes you can use "prepare" and people will understand that you mean "brace". Or you may use "brace".

Sometimes "prepare" works but not "brace".

Sometimes "brace" works but not "prepare".

Sometimes both work.

You will not get an answer in this thread on every possible situation when you can use "prepare" or "brace" or either or only one of them. You'll only learn by practice. This thread can only give you indicators.

Please read this entire thread once again, carefully. In my opinion, you won't get any more answers that will give you any further information.


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> This is the same as the information posted in #2 above


"for something unpleasant" in to prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant means when we use the word brace, it can give the (stronger )sense that we are prepare for something unpleasant?
I didn't know that this is how I should read that something unpleasant part.Thanks.


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## kentix

The other difference with the word "brace" is it often has a psychological component that is not always present in "prepare" because of the connection with something unpleasant.

So when it says he is bracing for hurricane season, it means he is getting mentally prepared as well as physically prepared. He is getting his mind used to the idea of coming danger.

But saying something like "She was preparing for the dinner" just means she was making food. It doesn't indicate anything psychological.


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## Barque

Kansi, I agree with the others when they say you aren't reading your answers.

Or perhaps you _are _reading them but you haven't been able to follow them.

Either way, I doubt you'll benefit from asking more questions. My advice is to go back and read every post again, and if you still have questions, wait for a few weeks, during which time, read as much as you can. Yes, a few weeks. (You don't have to follow this advice of course.)


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> "for something unpleasant" in to prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant means when we use the word brace, it can give the   (stronger )  sense that we are prepare for something unpleasant?
> I didn't know that this is how I should read that something unpleasant part.Thanks.


 (It is more specific, not stronger)
Why did you think those words were in the definition?? You cannot just ignore such words when trying to learn the meaning from a definition 
As I told you many weeks ago "a definition is 'the meaning expressed with different words" - not intended to be a "substitute"."


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> Why did you think those words were in the definition?? You cannot just ignore such words when trying to learn the meaning from a definition


I didn't ignore. I just couldn't link or think it's correct to link that something unpleasant in its definition and the word giving the sense that we are preparing for something unpleasant.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> I didn't ignore. *I just couldn't *link or* think it's correct to link that something unpleasant in its definition* and the word giving the sense that we are preparing for something unpleasant.


 Can you explain what you thought the words in the definition actually meant?  Did you think the definition was incorrect?  We need to continue trying to help you learn how a dictionary works: you still do not seem to have understood it, if you can say something like
"I just couldn't think it's correct to link that something unpleasant in its definition"


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> Can you explain what you thought the words in the definition actually meant?


Well the word harricane is an unpleasant event so brace is used. That's all I thought that part(something unpleasant) meant.

Did you think the definition was incorrect?
→No.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> Well the word harricane is an unpleasant event so brace is used. That's all I thought that part(something unpleasant) meant.


  That's the right usage for brace in the sentence in the OP becasue of the context and the word hurricane.


kansi said:


> Did you think the definition was incorrect?
> →*No.*


 What did you mean when you said "I just couldn't think it's correct to link that something unpleasant in its definition". I was asking abut the words in the definition - there is no mention of hurricane there. The definition indicates that the meaning of "brace" contains the sense of "getting ready for   something unpleasant" but you ignored that when trying to understand the definition.  Thast is why the thread is so long


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> I was asking abut the words in the definition - there is no mention of huirrican there.


I know..I am not saying that I thought I couldn't use the word because the word hurricane isn't in the definition.

You already understand:
❶That part something unpleasant
=
❷the word brace gives readers the specific sense that we are preparing for something unpleasant.

But I just couldn't think at that time ❶ ≠ ❷ or more like I couldn't come up with the idea ❷. ❷ wasn't even in my mind. it's only after you introduced ❷ to me that I came to know ❶ = ❷.


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## JulianStuart

kansi said:


> I know..I am not saying that I thought I couldn't use the word because the word hurricane isn't in the definition.
> 
> You already understand:
> ❶That part something unpleasant
> =
> ❷the word brace gives readers the specific sense that we are preparing for something unpleasant.
> 
> But I just couldn't think at that time ❶ ≠ ❷ or more like I couldn't come up with the idea ❷. ❷ wasn't even in my mind. it's only after you introduced ❷ to me that I came to know ❶ = ❷.


I was not the one who introduced that  concept, it was in the very first post (#2) in response to your question.
???


You little ripper! said:


> Brace - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
> 
> to  *prepare (oneself) for something unpleasant*: couldn't brake in time and braced herself for the crash.


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> I was not the one who introduced that concept, it was in the very first post (#2) in response to your question.
> ???


No  I mean ❷ was introduced by you.Or ❶ = ❷ was introduced by you.
❶, which is in #2 , was introduced by that person.


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## JulianStuart

NO  the dictionary introduced the whole concept with the definition in #2. You separated the two parts "prepare for something" "something unpleasant" when you read the defintion. You should not do that - you should keep the words together if you want to learn the right meanings from definitions.


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## kansi

JulianStuart said:


> the dictionary introduced the whole concept with the definition in #2.


That's true. But I just didn't know how I should understand that.


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## DonnyB

The initial question has been answered, to the best of members' ability.  It seems to me that further discussion or attempts at explanation are unliklely to prove fruitful, so I'm now closing the thread.  Thanks to everybody for their efforts, which I hope kansi has found useful.  DonnyB - moderator.


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