Talk:provincial

"2. Exhibiting the ways or manners of a province; characteristic of the inhabitants of a province; not cosmopolitan; countrified; not polished; rude; hence, narrow; illiberal. Provincial airs and graces." Macaulay."

I think these definitions should be untangled a bit. It is always used negatively, derogatorily, and this should be made clear from the start of the definition. The def. here sounds like it might be used in a positive sense- if the "province" in question were known for its hospitality and politeness. The term is never used in that sense. I shall try to clarify this a bit, although I have no references in front of me.


 * Not at all; it can be negative, and frequently is, but often is not. (Which explains why you find the quote confusing.) Robert Ullmann 15:48, 16 December 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree with the OP. Due to the popularity of the OP's usage, perhaps that usage needs more emphasis. "... this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s..." People come here for clean, crisp, quick definitions, not to pause and start pondering and sifting possible "right" definitions from their archane or original, obscure, now-wrong or now-rare meanings. Cheers! --2602:306:CFCE:1EE0:3D91:3408:6ECD:BF7A 21:29, 17 April 2018 (UTC)Doug Bashford