to take slight umbridge (umbrage)

[Manwell]

Hello,

I can't find any definition of this expression.... what does it mean?

Thanks in advance

 

[la grive solitaire]

Hi Manwell,

To take slight umbrage means to be slightly offended.

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2003/04/15.html

 

[Manwell]

Thanks for your help.

but I received a mail from a british colleague writing: "Sorry to take slight umbridge to this as i know it is meant with the best intentions"

maybe the two versions exist? to take slight umbrage/umbridge

This colleague is native of Shropshire, would it be a kind of local saying???

anyway, I get what he means. Thanks

 

[sound shift]

"Umbridge" is just a mis-spelling in my opinion.

 

[GenJen54]

would it be a kind of local saying???

My guess it is a slight typo. Either that, or your friend is a Harry Potter fan (which is why he had "idge" in his mind).

There is a character in the fifth Harry Potter book named Mrs. Umbridge. She's an ugly, awful, trollish and rather shadowy creature who punishes people relentlessly, and manages to offend anyone she comes across.

Author J.K. Rowling loves to play with words, giving the characteristics of a particular word to her characters, who she names similarly. I would guess this is a possibility.

 

[la grive solitaire]

I suppose it could be but I think it's probably just a misspelling. Perhaps a native of BE could confirm?

 

[panjandrum]

The word is umbrage.
I have seen umbrage in various forms before now.
umbrage = offence

There is nothing to suggest that umbridge is anything other than an error.

 

[se16teddy]

This colleague is native of Shropshire, would it be a kind of local saying???

'Take umbrage' is not a local saying: if anything it is rather literary, so I don't think it has any local variants.
There is no difference in pronunciation between 'umbrage' (correct spelling) and 'umbridge' (which is an incorrect spelling)

 

[MrPedantic]

"Umbrage" usually has a humorous connotation, these days.

If "I" say I have "taken umbrage at X", it has an air of self-deprecation or self-mockery: the offence is rarely to be taken seriously.

If "I" say that MrQ has "taken umbrage at X", on the other hand, it implies that although MrQ may have taken X seriously, I probably have a rather humorous attitude towards the situation: perhaps I think that MrQ was a little silly to take offence.

MrP

 

[foxfirebrand]

"Umbrage" usually has a humorous connotation, these days.

If "I" say I have "taken umbrage at X", it has an air of self-deprecation or self-mockery: the offence is rarely to be taken seriously.

If "I" say that MrQ has "taken umbrage at X", on the other hand, it implies that although MrQ may have taken X seriously, I probably have a rather humorous attitude towards the situation: perhaps I think that MrQ was a little silly to take offence.

MrP

I agree with this in every particular-- perhaps I should revise my pet topic of the mock-formal tone, and deemphasize the idea that it is quintessentially American. Clearly it's a part of our heritage, with roots going all the way back to "Anglo-Saxon irony"-- another of my pet topics.
.

 

[. 1]

"Umbrage" usually has a humorous connotation, these days.

If "I" say I have "taken umbrage at X", it has an air of self-deprecation or self-mockery: the offence is rarely to be taken seriously.

If "I" say that MrQ has "taken umbrage at X", on the other hand, it implies that although MrQ may have taken X seriously, I probably have a rather humorous attitude towards the situation: perhaps I think that MrQ was a little silly to take offence.

MrP

If I may add to the sage words of MrP.
The addition of 'slight' to the almost comical 'umbridge' (which is obviously just a misspelling of umbrage) removes the statement even one step further from any real offence taken.
This is a gentle and friendly way to disagree.

.,,

 

[panjandrum]

I agree with this in every particular-- perhaps I should revise my pet topic of the mock-formal tone, and deemphasize the idea that it is quintessentially American. Clearly it's a part of our heritage, with roots going all the way back to "Anglo-Saxon irony"-- another of my pet topics.
.

Tick from the Celtic Fringe as well.
I suspect that the mock-formal tone is alive and well in many places.
I have no idea, but the suggestion that it may be quintessentially American prompts the thought that it is perhaps quintessentially colonial and provincial - a mechanism developed by those of us sufficiently distant from the pomposity of empire to recognise it.

 

[. 1]

Tick from the Celtic Fringe as well.
I suspect that the mock-formal tone is alive and well in many places.
I have no idea, but the suggestion that it may be quintessentially American prompts the thought that it is perhaps quintessentially colonial and provincial - a mechanism developed by those of us sufficiently distant from the pomposity of empire to recognise it.

Is it possibly a mocking of the elite. The peasants poking fun at the rulers by affecting a cumbersome way of talking to point out that the rulers take umbrage at the peasants far too often.

.,,

 

[foxfirebrand]

A hearty vote of agreement (thumps tankard on table) to the points made by Panj and .,,.

Hmmm-- .,,, your monicker at the end of a sentence looks a little like Kilroy peering over the top of a fence.
.

 

[sirNitti]

Umbridge is a short, squat woman described as resembling a large pale toad. She has a broad, flabby face, little neck, and a wide, slack mouth. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolores_

I'm a callipygian! And I hate Umbridge!!

 

[Cader Idris]

"Umbridge" is just a mis-spelling in my opinion.

Yes, I agree.
Since it is such a rare word, nowadays, many people will be a bit unsure of the spelling. It is more likely to be encountered in the spoken language than in the written one.

 

[JamesM]

Oddly enough, I just recently heard "I take umbrage to that" in an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond", a not particularly high-brow sitcom of the American variety.

 

[Packard]

"Unbridged" is a word. It means that the river or stream has no bridge to cross it.

I would imagine that "umbridge" will someday be "correct".

In our machine shop the toolmakers use "swedge" for "swage", primarily because "swage" is pronounced as "swedge". So I have low-hopes that "umbridge" will remain a misspelling.

 

[sdgraham]

I would imagine that "umbridge" will someday be "correct".

Sadly, that's probably true.

Americans in particular seem to corrupt unfamiliar words into more familiar spellings.

The most egregious example I can think of is the nearly universal misspelling of chaise longue, which always seems to appear as "chaise lounge."

 

[Loob]

I'm not sure why you see your side of the pond as particularly culpable (inventive?) If J K Rowling is the source of "umbridge" then we claim her as ours! And there are plenty of "chaise lounges" over here, too. Purists are always, ultimately, the losers in language-change battles...

Loob

 

[mally pense]

I take umbridge (sic) at the quoted author diluting the wonderful expression "to take umbrage" by adding "slight" to it. Completely ruins the sound and feel of it, though it's easy to see that the motivation was to avoid risking the person reading it taking umbrage themselves.

By the way, I never realised it was spelt "umbrage"!

 

[Packard]

I take umbridge (sic) at the quoted author diluting the wonderful expression "to take umbrage" by adding "slight" to it. Completely ruins the sound and feel of it, though it's easy to see that the motivation was to avoid risking the person reading it taking umbrage themselves...

My feeling exactly. In my opinion:

"I take offense at what was said."

"I take slight offense at what was said."

"I find what was said was somewhat offensive."