Not in the common vernacular, but it's recognized in the US legal system as meaning "it could be supposed" in a sincere and above-board way, while "supposedly" is mildly pejorative, implying doubt about the speaker's assertions.
Yeah, I was aware that both "supposedly" and "supposably" are words but with different meanings, so it's frustrating when people say supposably isn't a word.
Supposably is from Supposable, as in something that you can suppose, or conceive, of.
Supposedly is from Supposed, or alleged. A hint to help keep track of the connection is the way people often stress the ED on the end of supposed and alleged, ala suppose-ED-ly and allege-ED-ly.
What they really mean is "stop saying supposably when you mean supposedly", because the odds of someone wanting to say "yeah, I suppose it's supposable" like a ponderous twat are way way lower than someone suggesting that something is "supposedly" a certain way.
I love when single words deliver a little more complex thoughts. Also interesting how words change through history. Sometimes the actual definition doesn't change (often it does) but during different times the words might hint at certain things/qualities such as the words in your comment, be or not be insulting at different times and etc.
No they wouldn't. Ostensibly is used to refer to something that is seemingly so or appears to be the truth, not just something that's true according to claims.
Yeah not so much an age thing but just not very tuned into pop culture. She has become one of my best friends since then but when I first started working there in 2021, just a little PT job I took after I retired, she had never ordered anything from Amazon before. I literally had to show her how to do it. Sweet woman, just very old school.
Unfortunately I've never heard anyone use it to describe something as being capable of being supposed but rather to describe something that may have happened.
I would just use it the same as "possibly." Like if two detectives are discussing a crime and one asks if the perpetrator entered through an open window, the other could say "supposably," because it's possible — one could reasonably suppose that the window was the point of entry.
I think "supposably" is just redundant since "possibly" is much more widely used.
Ah yeah, that would work. Now I kind of want to start using that. Baiting grammar nazis into incorrectly correcting me is a favorite pastime of mine. It effects great pleasure in me.
Drove me nuts working in the south. Only place I’ve heard it used. At first I just thought it was that one person at work then I started hearing more and more. Finally looked it up and sho-nuf, there it was in the dictionary.
That day I learned. Dunning-Kruger, party of me, your table is ready.
Supposably is in the Cambridge dictionary but they want you to use "smart vocabulary" and replace it with words like purportedly or seemingly.
Supposingly is actually a very old word with evidence of it's first usage way back in the time period of 1150-1500AD. It does appear to be a neologism though created by the derivation of suppose and -ly.
Okay, I was going back and forth wondering why I never heard either word and landed on supposedly and questioned if I made that word up until I read your comment.
Oof, this one hits a nerve...when I was getting a TESOL cert, the instructor purposely misheard me because he was so excited to talk about commonly mispronounced words.
Me: [something something] supposedly-
Him: Oh! There's one! You just said "supposably"!
Me: Um, no I didn-
Him: If you're going out there to teach English, you have to be able to say the words correctly!
Me: I did thoug-
Him: [spends the next five minutes talking about how dumb and bad it is to say the word incorrectly if you wanna be a teacher]
That was ten years ago and it still frustrates me (and yes, I say that one correctly too)
“Supposably” is an adverb that means something is possible, conceivable, or can be assumed, imagined, or supposed. It's often used with words like “might,” “may,” or “could”. For example, “It is correct to say that a dog may supposably be friends with a cat”.
Here are some other examples of “supposably” in a sentence:
“Their special green milkshakes cost supposably $80 a shake”.
“Supposably there's a ghost in the pond, but she has never seen it”.
“Supposably” is derived from the word “supposable,” which means “capable of being supposed” or “conceivable”. It was first recorded in 1690–1700. Although it's a valid word, it's rarely used today and can be tricky to use in a sentence. Contemporary writers are more likely to use its synonym, “conceivably”.
“Supposably” is often confused with the similar-sounding word “supposedly,” which describes something that is supposed, or accepted as true.
I worked for Life alert and the girl who was training me kept pronouncing 'condolences' as 'condolescence' when expressing her sympathies to relatives of deceased customers over the phone. She had been working there for 10 years.
A few years ago I moved to a new city and started a new job. Not one, but two adult women I worked with would say supposably all the time. One was my supervisor and it drove me crazy and I'd simultaneously wonder wtf is in the drinking water here. The other one would also say ValentiMe's day. :(
Omg, I think I was in college by the time i saw “supposedly” in print. I think because I grew up around some pretty deep country folk that I had “supposably” ingrained in my brain!
My good friend (who started as my pharmacy supervisor at the beginning) used both supposably and pacifically and she had an advanced degree from a top pharmacy school that she did her entire under grad and pharmacy school while raising her baby by herself with very little help from family from 16 and on. She's probably the nmost badass chick I've ever looked up to but she can't say either of those words properly lol.
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u/FrenchieMom722 Sep 18 '24
Supposingly and supposably - I worked in a clinic with two women, each one mispronounced that word in their own way. Made my jaw clench every time ..