Friday, September 23, 2011

I am curious

In Dick Francis's Gamble (by Felix Francis), chapter 6 page 91, our hero is going through the papers of his dead friend, of whose estate he is executor. There's this line:
"I was curious to see that Herb had been paid somewhat more than I was."
That sounds odd to me. I can't use "curious" like that - I'd have to say "I was interested to see" or maybe "I was intrigued". But "curious" is something you are before you see, probably why you're looking. Merriam-Webster agrees with me, noting "curious always suggests an eager desire to learn".

How about you? Sound okay - or weird?

Labels: ,

2 Comments:

At 9:36 AM, September 24, 2011 Blogger Barry Leiba had this to say...

I agree. I'd have no problem with, "I found it curious that Herb [...]," using a slightly different sense of "curious" (meaning "odd"). But as it is, it's... curious.

 
At 3:33 PM, September 24, 2011 Anonymous Kathie had this to say...

Perhaps a typo for:

"It was curious to see that Herb had been paid somewhat more than I was."

(It's not the sort of error that spell-checking software would catch).

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

     <-- Older Post                     ^ Home                    Newer Post -->