Which Word Is A More Strongly Negative Description Of A Person: Shady Or Shifty?

[Evan2020]

Shady and Shifty both imply that a person is dishonest and often clever or crafty about it: but do you think that both shady and shifty are equally negative implications or is one more negative than the other? If one is more intensely negative, why?

[JJ109]

I would say that they are very nearly identical. However, personally I would say that there is a slight nuance and that "shifty" has a slightly worse connotation.

If you say "shady" there is some "doubt", although not much, with regards the character. It is highly likely that the person has a dishonest character but you are not 100% sure. With "shifty" you are more sure.

[Evan2020]

Yeah I agree that is my impression too that shifty has a connotation suggesting absolute certainty and shady suggests you can’t entirely tell because they are very mysterious.

[Evan2020]

JJ109 Can you give an example of something that would make you strongly suspect that they are not honest but not dead certain (shady) and one that would make you virtually absolutely certain (shifty)?

[bobbinwales]

Some might say an example of Shifty may be posting 7 questions with the same words in the title over several weeks even though it's been answered each time.

[Neveracrossword]

Evan2020, there won't be a definitive answer to your question, no matter how many times you post it. English language is full of nuances - what's shady to one person could be shifty to another, and yet both would be 'correct'. Getting examples from A,B and C wouldn't clarify things for you as X,Y and Z could think something completely different.

[Evan2020]

Guys as I said I just love analyzing these words shifty and shady and different examples of them since I love Eminem’s alter ego Slim Shady and to honor it sometimes I playfully pretend to have an alter ego called Slender Shifty so I find it fun analyzing examples of the terms and different people’s opinions on them and don’t mean any harm by it.

[rowanwitch]

I suspect he chose the name because the pattern of the words felt right. Could just as easily been anything. Putting excessive value on the meaning of certain words in terms of heightened significance is sometimes a symptom of lost perspective at best, mental health problems at worse. It's a name... Write to the man get his rationale if you must but otherwise find some other healthier way to exercise your mind.

[bobbinwales]

"Will the real slender shifty please stand up please stand up" dos'nt scan aswell as "Will the real slim shady please stand up..."

[1ozzy]

I'm slim and I'm shady, if a four o'clock shadow counts, I'm stood up too.
Does that make me a contender Bobbin?
I'd love to be the real one

[Neveracrossword]

Evan2020, I'm glad you're getting so much pleasure from analysing these words, finding out what other people think and so on... but it's all just so subjective. It's probably far more interesting to you than to anyone else!

[Evan2020]

Neveracrossword what exactly do you mean by it’s subjective?

[Neveracrossword]

The meaning of the two words is subjective -some people might think one is more derogatory than the other, some might instinctively choose to use one rather than the other... If you're happy to do a sort of opinion poll and discover that 72%% of ABers think A and 10% think B and the rest don't give a hoot, that's fine by me!

[Evan2020]

Ok cool thanks for the tip Neveracrossword.

[Evan2020]

Neveracrossword how do you do a poll on here?

[Neveracrossword]

I wasn't suggesting you do a poll, a proper poll, you could just collate all the responses you get. The AB Eds set up polls occasionally, but usually on news topics.

[Evan2020]

Ok got it thanks Neveracrossword. May I ask do you like Slim Shady? As you can see, I love him.

[Neveracrossword]

I have heard of Slim Shady but don't know who he is,was - and have never been curious!

[Evan2020]

Neveracrossword well did you know that it’s the alter ego of the very famous rapper Eminem?

[Neveracrossword]

Evan, no.