In Newfoundland, the word wonderful is often used as an intensifier for both positive and negative things. For example, a Newfoundlander might refer to something as a wonderful loss. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Positively and Negatively Wonderful”
Another really interesting usage, Grant, that I think you’ll like from Newfoundland English is the use of the word wonderful as an intensifier.
So if you’re really ill, I might say, Grant, you have a wonderful temperature.
Oh, okay.
Isn’t that something?
Yeah.
But so it just means a lot of or more of it, not necessarily positive.
Right.
Right.
Not necessarily.
Like you might suffer a wonderful loss.
It’s significant.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it’s sort of like awesome in the old sense, you know?
Wonderful.
Inspiring awe or inspiring wonder.
It is.
But it’s just something remarkable.
So unusual that I have wonder about it.
Yeah.
Isn’t that interesting?
Because we always think of wonderful in our use of English as something very positive, but not necessarily.
That’s a good one.
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