Answer: "ravish" vs. "ravage"

[whymzycal.livejournal.com]

amai_kaminari wants to know about the difference between "ravish" and "ravage." With examples from Saiyuki and Saiyuki Gaiden.


According to our friends at Dictionary.com, the verb ravish means either "to fill with strong emotion, especially joy; to give great delight to; enrapture" or "to rape; to seize and carry off by force." Since I don't see it very often, unless it's the adjectival "You look ravishing in that dress," I'm guessing the first definition doesn't get much play these days. In that case, you'd probably want to use a synonym like "enthrall," "delight," or "captivate" if you mean "to fill with joy":

"Konzen, did you just smile? You must do it more often. I'm absolutely ravished delighted by evidence of your happiness, you know. It's such a rarity," said the Merciful Goddess. Konzen scowled and turned away, muttering under his breath.

The second definition of ravish, "to rape" or "to seize and carry off by force," is completely different from the first. It also gets used more often in verb form:

Yaone had been devoted to Prince Kougaiji since the day he saved her from being ravished by Hyakugan-maoh, the Centipede King.

Ravage, though it looks similar to ravish, means something different: "to work havoc upon; damage or mar by ravages: a face ravaged by grief," or "to work havoc; do ruinous damage" as in "to ruin, despoil, plunder, pillage, or sack":

Sealed away behind impenetrable barriers, Kougaiji's mother, Rasetsunyo, would never be ravaged by exposure to time or the elements.

Gyu-maoh's forces ravage the countryside, bringing terror and destruction wherever they go, until the Heavenly Army sends Nataku to defeat him.

So how do you remember which word to use when? Alas, the mnemonic I came up with wasn't very memorable, but my fellow grammarian, green_grrl, came to the rescue: "If you stretch as far as the romance heroine trope, you could wish to be ravished. But to ravage is just savage—nobody wants that!"


Sources:
"Ravage" at Dictionary.com
"Ravish" at Dictionary.com

Comments

[campylobacter.livejournal.com]

So glad fandom_grammar is finally covering RAVISH vs. RAVAGE! Every time I see "ravage" used where it should've been "ravish", I shake my head, because the author's usually writing vanilla sex, and not the BDSM or non-con rape stuff where "ravage" would be appropriate.

Kudos to green_grrl for the splendid mnemonic.