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Question "have a great spirit of adventure" again

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
I think I asked about this almost a year ago. But I have to clarify it.
If I remember correctly, some(all?) of the native speakers here said
that they wouldn't say "have a great spirit of adventure". Am I right?

The following is from the textbook:
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These opinions are just a few examples of the wide variety of views expressed by foreigners living in Japan. They are valuable in giving the Japanese an outside view of their own culture.
In coming to Japan, such people must have had a great spirit of adventure. What about the other side of the picture? Do many Japanese people share that spirit?
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If the phrase sounds off, what should it be said instead?
How about these? I guess (b) would sound off.
(a) such people must have had a great sense of adventure.
(b) such people must have had a great adventure spirit.
(c) such people must have had a great adventurous spirit.

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin
 
You know that you can do a search for old posts, right?

Here is the previous discussion:
Final Exam of the First Term (6) again | Japan Forum

I think the expression "spirit of adventure" is not so common, and many people would express this concept differently ("sense of adventure" is much more common, for example), but it is easily understandable when reading it, and there is not anything incorrect about it. Because those are the words in the textbook, it is understandable, and there is no error, I recommend using it as is with no changes.
 
Thanks for the reply, joadbres.
Do you think it would be all right for the students to learn the phrase "spirit of adventure", which is not commonly used?
 
I think there is a difference between the two actually. A "sense" sounds like something you can feel and understand, like with a sense of humour you can detect when something is funny and go with it, likewise when you go on an adventure you have that feeling of being adventurous and enjoy that feeling, whereas a spirit of adventure is like a culture, say for example within a company. The company could have a culture, or spirit, of adventure within it, a deliberate conscious effort to be advenutrous in their business plans and modesl. Or you could say there was a spirit of adventure in America in the 1800s with many people forming a culture of adventurous entrepeneurial spirit.
I think a "spirit" is like a conscious way of doing things, whereas a "sense" is as it says something you sense, feel and understand.
 
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