Amy in San Diego has a friendly workplace dispute over supposably and supposedly. For ordinary uses meaning “as people assume” or “allegedly,” as in I’m supposedly going to the grocery store, the usual word is supposedly, built on supposed. Supposably is a real adverb, but it belongs with supposable, meaning something like “conceivably” or “as one could suppose,” a much rarer and more theoretical use. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Is “Supposably” Correct for Doubtful Ideas? Usually, Use “Supposedly””
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Good morning. My name is Amy Logan, and I’m calling from beautiful San Diego, California.
Well, hello, Amy Logan in beautiful San Diego, California. What can we do for you, Amy?
I am calling because I have, my boss is a chiropractor, and she’s from Canada, and we often have, let’s say, pleasant battles about words. And recently, we had one, and I just had to call you guys to see if I was right.
And I want to know, is it supposedly or supposedly? Because I say supposedly, and she says supposedly, and she says she’s right.
You say S-U-P-P-O-S-A-B-L-Y.
Correct.
And she says S-U-P-P-O-S-E-D-L-Y.
Correct.
Okay, and can you use it in a sentence for us, Amy?
I supposedly am going to go to the grocery store.
Supposedly. Meaning that you have the intention to go, you’re planning on going, but now it’s somewhat in doubt.
Right. Your boss says supposedly you’re going to the store?
Yes.
So I wasn’t sure if it was like a tomato-tomato thing. You could say it interchangeably or if it’s like saying congratulations or congratulations. Do you get what I’m saying? I’m just not sure if it’s the way that we’ve changed it around.
Yeah. Is there a pronunciation thing going on, or is there really a nuance of difference between those two words?
Well, we’re kind of pausing here a second, Amy, because we really like you, and we think you’re amazing, and you’re funny, and it’s already one of the best calls ever.
But.
Oh, thank you.
But.
But I’m wrong.
You’re wrong. I felt the buildup right there. I felt it coming.
Yeah. It’s what they call a rose. You hand somebody a flower, but it’s got thorns.
I love it. So it’s not interchangeably is really what you’re telling me.
No, it’s not. There’s only one right answer here. It is supposedly with a D.
Yeah. Now, there is a word supposedly, but it has a slightly different meaning. Because if you just take off the adverbial ending there, you get supposed versus supposable, right?
Okay. And supposed is more definite. It’s the thing that everybody assumes is going to happen. Adam Lambert is supposed to win American Idol.
Got it. But if you say it’s supposable that he’ll win American Idol, then it’s like, eh, it’s possible.
Well, it’s that one could suppose. If it’s supposable, then one could suppose.
Right. But if it’s supposed, it means it’s already been supposed. It’s already been assumed. It’s already been supposed. And so, strictly speaking, the word you want if you’re saying, what was it, I’m supposedly going to go to the store? Well, I don’t know.
No, no, no. This is clear cut. It’s supposedly. I mean, there’s no room for ambiguity on this one.
No, no. I hear she’s on my side. Let’s go back to that. Don’t make me come out of there.
But I guess it depends on how certain you are that you’re going to go to the store. But in most people, if you look at the large body of written English, like billions of words, people almost never write supposedly when it is used correctly.
That is true. They almost always meant supposedly and they got it wrong.
Right. If you’re saying I’m supposedly going to go to the store, it’s like maybe I’ll go to the store, maybe I’ll go to the zoo.
Because really, to legitimately call something supposable and to say that it is supposedly true, you need to be talking on a philosophical level and having this meta discussion about things that could be supposed.
Right, right. It’s almost theoretical.
We don’t do that.
We don’t do that. I mean, unless you’re hanging out with Birch and Russell in a French cafe, you’re just not doing that.
Which I will do very soon. I promise.
Oh, okay.
Supposably.
Well, I’m at work, so it looks like I’m going to have to walk back out into the office with my tail between my legs and confess I’m wrong.
Well, go out the back door and just bring everyone lunch, and then it’ll all be okay, right? Go down to the taco truck, get some burritos and everything.
That is such a good plan.
You guys are awesome.
Thank you so much.
You guys are so awesome.
Oh, you are too. You’re fun to talk to, Amy. It was a good call, even if we had to deliver bad news.
Well, I appreciate it.
You could always keep it to yourself, right? Maybe your boss doesn’t listen to our show.
Unfortunately, I’m on the air right now, so that’s why I’m keeping it to myself.
Okay.
Well, bye-bye.
Bye, guys. Have a great day. Take care. Good luck.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Oh, man. The grammar walk of shame.
Do you have a dispute about language? Do you need an arbitrator? Give us a call, 1-877-929-9673, or lay out the sorry tale in email to words@waywordradio.org.
