D&D General ‪What does the word “dire”‬ mean to you?

[Beleriphon]

Morrus, I think there's a distinct lack of language definition here. I live in Canada and I don't think either of the definitions are actually accurate.

Dire by definition means terrible, horrible, in a dangerous context.

It is not that something is a poor example of whatever noun dire is be used as an adjective with. Applying that to a wolf doesn't mean a that a dire wolf is a particular poor example of wolfiness, it means it is a terrible, horrible, dreadful wolf.

It is used in the same context as catclysmic, extreme, or catastrophic. Dreadful is another good one, but in the way Terry Pratchett might have used it; full of dread, not mundanely bad.

To quote the man himself in regards to elves:

Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.

 

[cbwjm]

I went better, British as I'm a kiwi and we use UK English, I've always thought about dire creatures as larger, smarter, and more ferocious than their regular counterparts.

 

[Charlaquin]

American here: to me it generally means extreme. Whether extremely good or extremely bad depends on context. Just like “great.” Usually, it holds a connotation of danger.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[robus]

It’s not a language definition thing. You’ve just sided hard on option 1. You live in (North) America. It’s expected.

If you lived here in the U.K. you’d be used to the “poor quality” usage.

“That TV show was dire.” Means it’s rubbish.

I think that’s a pretty recent change though? I don’t remember calling things dire in the 80s? (when Dire Straits were at the top of the charts)

 

[MarkB]

It’s not a language definition thing. You’ve just sided hard on option 1. You live in (North) America. It’s expected.

If you lived here in the U.K. you’d be used to the “poor quality” usage.

“That TV show was dire.” Means it’s rubbish.

I also live in the UK, and I'm familiar with the term being used in both senses - as something calamitous and dangerous, and as something of poor quality. I'd definitely consider the latter to be a more colloquial, 'slang-ey' usage of the word.

 

[Charlaquin]

I mean, it’s the same as a lot of things that mean bad, right?

Terrible, horrible, horrific, horrid, dreadful, awful... All things that can mean either “bad” or “scary.”

 

[Orban Sirgen]

I'm American... "Dire" means "more dangerous than normal"...

 

[robus]

Not in South Carolina, I imagine. I think you might be missing the point here!

Hey some people move in their lifetimes I’m a west country/channel island lad (mostly) by roots.

 

[cbwjm]

Dire creatures only exist in D&D. So you’re saying you adopted the D&D definition of the word (which was the American usage, as the publishers of D&D are in America).

The question is, then, did you associate the word with anything other than fantasy creatures?

I guess I associated it with urgent to overcome something bad as in a "dire need of X".

I don't think I've ever considered it as poor or inferior, although someone must have commented at some point that something "seemed a little dire." I may not have fully comprehended what they meant but it is definitely a sentence that I've come across before.