Words actually mean things, you know.
Jesus God. It's fine if you come onto my favorite obscure answers community wanting to pester us about medieval hats/falconry/cooking/architecture/medicine. Ask away! But for the love of all that's footnoted, and for the sake of my fragile sanity, do not ask about diseases/food/brothels/inheritance customs/punishments for bestiality "in ancient times." That's about as vague as "in medieval times."
No, wait. It's even more vague!
"In medieval times" is a pretty useless term, but it at least refers to a relatively narrow timespan. "In ancient times" could refer to Paleolithic France, 3rd Century BCE Ireland, 2nd Century Rome, 5th Century Denmark, 11th Century Japan . . . you get the idea. At least give us a hundred-year window and a specific country to work with.
It occurs to me that these people probably use "in ancient times" for anything that predates "in medieval times." Evil and wrong. Hate.
In casual conversation, I will let it slide, but if you are asking a question, this simply will not do.
More nitpicks? I got 'em! Let us move on to the differences between "ravage" and "ravish."
Ravage, according to Merriam-Webster online, means to wreak havoc on or affect destructively; to commit destructive actions. It implies "violent and often cumulative degradation and destruction."
Ravish means to seize or take away by violence, to overcome with emotion (as joy or delight); also to rob, plunder, or rape. It is most often encountered in the softer senses of the word; ravishment is what happens to plucky heroines in romance novels and entertaining porn.
A scent or a sight cannot "ravage your senses," unless it is causing permanent damage to your eyes, skin, nasal passages, etc. A woman does not look "ravaging" in a clingy black dress, unless she is covered in blood and gobbets of flesh. You do not want your lover to pin you down and "ravage" you. Well, maybe you do want to be degraded and destroyed. I mean, that's cool. Go for it if that's your kink. I totally get the appeal. Still, this word should be used with great caution. If you mean "ravish," by all the gods that ever were, please just say ravish. If you mean "ravage," and I mean really mean it, then use it. Using "ravage" when you mean "ravish" makes you look ignorant. "Ravage" is not a stepped-up version of "ravish." It is not ravishment plus. It is not ravishment with a vibrating bed and room service. It is not the ravishment bonus plan, with unlimited minutes and free long distance. It is not ravishment, only more ravish-y. So don't use it that way. They sound similar, but are not interchangeable.
Having covered that, let's discuss the word "definitely."
It contains within it another word: the word "finite," which is the amount of patience I have with this error.
It is not spelled "definATEly."
Let me restate that.
It is NOT. SPELLED. "DEFINATELY."
Are we perfectly clear on this? Because "definately" needs to die a much-needed death. The proper appearance of the word (again, it's "definitely" . . . "finite" is a word, and "finate" isn't) has begun to startle me when I see it, because most people misspell it. It is such a common spelling error that I have begun to make it, which, pre-internet (shakes cane) I never used to do.
And no, the fact that most people misspell it does not mean that the spelling should be altered, any more than mathematics should be altered to compensate for an individual's inability to add three and five together in a consistent fashion. Like me. I cannot reliably perform basic math. I do not, however, believe that those rules should be altered because I am bad at them.
No, wait. It's even more vague!
"In medieval times" is a pretty useless term, but it at least refers to a relatively narrow timespan. "In ancient times" could refer to Paleolithic France, 3rd Century BCE Ireland, 2nd Century Rome, 5th Century Denmark, 11th Century Japan . . . you get the idea. At least give us a hundred-year window and a specific country to work with.
It occurs to me that these people probably use "in ancient times" for anything that predates "in medieval times." Evil and wrong. Hate.
In casual conversation, I will let it slide, but if you are asking a question, this simply will not do.
More nitpicks? I got 'em! Let us move on to the differences between "ravage" and "ravish."
Ravage, according to Merriam-Webster online, means to wreak havoc on or affect destructively; to commit destructive actions. It implies "violent and often cumulative degradation and destruction."
Ravish means to seize or take away by violence, to overcome with emotion (as joy or delight); also to rob, plunder, or rape. It is most often encountered in the softer senses of the word; ravishment is what happens to plucky heroines in romance novels and entertaining porn.
A scent or a sight cannot "ravage your senses," unless it is causing permanent damage to your eyes, skin, nasal passages, etc. A woman does not look "ravaging" in a clingy black dress, unless she is covered in blood and gobbets of flesh. You do not want your lover to pin you down and "ravage" you. Well, maybe you do want to be degraded and destroyed. I mean, that's cool. Go for it if that's your kink. I totally get the appeal. Still, this word should be used with great caution. If you mean "ravish," by all the gods that ever were, please just say ravish. If you mean "ravage," and I mean really mean it, then use it. Using "ravage" when you mean "ravish" makes you look ignorant. "Ravage" is not a stepped-up version of "ravish." It is not ravishment plus. It is not ravishment with a vibrating bed and room service. It is not the ravishment bonus plan, with unlimited minutes and free long distance. It is not ravishment, only more ravish-y. So don't use it that way. They sound similar, but are not interchangeable.
Having covered that, let's discuss the word "definitely."
It contains within it another word: the word "finite," which is the amount of patience I have with this error.
It is not spelled "definATEly."
Let me restate that.
It is NOT. SPELLED. "DEFINATELY."
Are we perfectly clear on this? Because "definately" needs to die a much-needed death. The proper appearance of the word (again, it's "definitely" . . . "finite" is a word, and "finate" isn't) has begun to startle me when I see it, because most people misspell it. It is such a common spelling error that I have begun to make it, which, pre-internet (shakes cane) I never used to do.
And no, the fact that most people misspell it does not mean that the spelling should be altered, any more than mathematics should be altered to compensate for an individual's inability to add three and five together in a consistent fashion. Like me. I cannot reliably perform basic math. I do not, however, believe that those rules should be altered because I am bad at them.