[Ana laura]

Hi there

I find it very confusing to see the difference between these verbs that describe different ways of walking.

Examples

A) I wasn’t used to so much walking, and I ended up limping/hobbling home, with blisters on both feet.

B) The children dashed/scuttled/scurried/sprinted/scampered off as soon as the headmaster appeared.

c) I managed to creep/slink/sneak/tiptoe up behind the burglar before he noticed me.

d) A gang of youths were loitering/lingering outside the cinema.

e) We trudged/plodded through the snow.

f) He was found wandering/prowling/loitering the neighborhood. (Do prowl and loiter imply he wanted to commit a crime?)

g) The man was staggering/lurching/tottering/wobble outside the pub. (Is totter also used when you feel weak or dizzy?)

h)I scrambled/clambered up the mountain to find the best viewpoint of the island.

I really appreciate if you can help me understand some of the nuances these words have.

[susan53]

Don't have time to deal with all these Ana Laura - will start with (A) and try and come back another time for others - though I'm sure other people will come in too.

A) Either would be OK here. There's not much difference. I might prefer limping if just one foot/leg were involved - ie my walk is normal when I put down one foot, but painful on the other. Hobble just has the general meaning of "walk with difficulty".
If you Google them they tend to be used fairly interchangeably - they both collocate with adverbs of manner like heavily/badly/painfully, and/or with a following adverbial :
Devin took off sprinting, and I was hobbling along behind him with my sore foot
When I was hobbling around on my crutches...
My dog was perfectly fine yesterday now today this morning he is limping around.. it's not difficult to imagine King Richard III limping along the cobblestone roads in terms of frequency though, there seem to be more examples of limp + adv of manner, and hobble + around/along etc.

[Ana laura]

Hi Susan

Oh, you are right...I'm sorry..it's a long list.


Thank you very much for your reply, I really appreciate it.

I'll wait for more answers.

[susan53]

Here are some ideas regarding (B)

The children dashed/scuttled/scurried/sprinted/scampered off as soon as the headmaster appeared

dashed is fairly straightforward. It just means to go very quickly, in a hurry. Other examples : When we heard all the noise, we dashed out to see what was happening. / I'll have to dash off to catch the train as soon as the meeting ends.It's often used to apologise for leaving somewhere early, or not speaking to someone when you meet them : I'd love to stop and chat, but I've got a lesson. I must dash. (Heavy stress on must)
Used transitively, it can also mean to write something very quickly: I dashed off a quick answer to his e-mail before I left, but I'll write more fully when I get home.
And finally it can mean to destroy by throwing quickly and violently: He picked up the vase and dashed it to the ground. This can also be used metaphorically : When John refused to participate, he dashed all our hopes of winning.

Sprinted gives the idea of a short but very fast run (often a race), which starts very suddenly. In athletics, the 100m and 200m are sprint races. So an example might be : He saw the bus coming and sprinted to the bus stop. I don't think I'd use this in your example if the kids involved were very small, but with older ones, possibly.

Scuttled and Scurried are very similar to each other. They both mean to move with very small steps and movements, like a small animal :The hamster scurried around the cage looking for wisps of hay to build its nest / The porcupine scuttled across the road.
Scurried can be used metaphorically : His mind scurried frantically, seeking a solution to the problem.

Scamper is similar - it's associated with small animals (or children) and implies small movements. But it doesn't have the sense of speed or urgency of the other two: While the adults sat and talked, the children scampered around them playing games. In your context, it gives the idea that the children thought that escaping from the headmaster was a bit of a joke, rather than that they were in any real danger of punishment.

So here, they could all be used, but they create different mental images of what the "running away" was like.

[susan53]

Example (c) was : I managed to creep/slink/sneak/tiptoe up behind the burglar before he noticed me. All are possible, except slink.

creep : move very quietly and slowly. Examples :
As soon as I was sure the baby was asleep, I crept out of the bedroom and went downstairs.
The fog was still thick so that to go to the village I crept along with my headlights full on.
It often creates the image of someone hunching down so as to make themselves as small and unnoticeable as possible - as in your example, and :
It's an embarrassment. You sort of creep into a corner and hope she doesn't see you.
It can also be used metaphorically :
..the new, aggressive tone that has crept into the emotional issue of reunification.


slink : I don't think this one would be used in your context. It has a negative connotation and would be used eg in a situation where someone was ashamed about something or had done something wrong :
Get out of my life! And don't think that I'll calm down and you can come slinking back!
Nixon slunk away, and Ford pardoned him.
My friend immediately apologized and slunk away, embarrassed.

sneak : here the most important component of meaning is + secretly, without the other person knowing. This would be fine in your context. Other examples :
..for more of the slaves, including Annie, had sneaked off when the soldiers broke camp.
...he would often sneak away, so that they would never find him.
A rare British bat has developed remarkable stealth technology to sneak up on the moths which are its principal prey...
In these examples it's used with an adverb, and indicates movement, but it can also be used with a noun to mean do something secretly without other people knowing :
I... sneaked a look at the McLaren girl
I suppose a Lascar sailor had sneaked a cigarette in the hold and touched off the blaze

tiptoe : this means exactly what it says - to walk on the tips of your feet without putting the whole foot on the ground - which you would do if you were trying to be quiet. So again, it's fine in your context, and would be OK too in the example I gave before :
As soon as I was sure the baby was asleep, I tiptoed out of the bedroom and went downstairs.

[susan53]

d) A gang of youths were loitering/lingering outside the cinema.

These two aren't ways of walking at all but of "remaining" somewhere.

Linger : This means that something/someone stays somewhere longer than is necessary or expected.
They lingered over coffee and missed the last bus
Elisabeth did not enter the museum at once, but lingered in the courtyard.
...evenings are delightful and everyone wants to linger under the stars.
..his eyes lingered on Nick's face, then moved back to Elaine

Interestingly it is less often used with reference to people than to abstract ideas and with other non-human referents :
..a brewing fight over bilingual education and lingering animosity toward Gov. Pete Wilson.
The result removed any lingering doubt on this issue..
The cold lingered, making sleep difficult that night,..
The memory lingered on, though, in the minds of many...
It's frequently used to describe a long drawn out death, whether real or metaphorical :
...any white wine will die a lingering death when it is allowed to warm

Notice that there is nothing negative about it though. If your example had been The boys lingered outside the cinema for a while, talking quietly it would have been fine. But the expression "gang of youths" is loaded with negative assumptions - it suggests the boys were there for some disruptive purpose. So here, lingered sounds strange.

loiter does often have a negative connotation. Strictly the meaning is to remain somewhere without a specific purpose but it is frequently associated with crime, and may describe an actual criminal offence (loitering with intent). These are examples from press reports :
A 65-year-old Aberdeen councillor and former Holyrood candidate is fined after admitting loitering in Aberdeen's red light district.
Mugger loitered near shop in heavy rain before assault
Charges are filed against a repeat sex offender after he is found loitering at a Norman park watching a youth ...
Even when there is no real crime involved it is seen as "hanging around" that may disturb other people :
A mall installs an anti-loitering device. The device makes a noise that discourages loitering by teens or anybody else who may be loitering ...
Because of the negative connotations of the phrase a gang of youths therefore, loiter would be much more likely to be used in this context than linger.

[susan53]

e) We trudged/plodded through the snow.

Not a great deal of difference here.

plod = to walk slowly, with difficulty, but steadily. It's often used with reference to animals

For three days, their stolid oxen had plodded up a blazing valley as flat and featureless as...
The Tortoise plodded on and plodded on..
...donkeys that plodded wearily in a circle (D.H. Lawrence).
Instead, most times T. rex probably plodded along like an elephant

It can also be used metaphorically to mean work slowly and laboriously but steadily on a task, or to get through an experience slowly and laboriously:
16 Sep 2010 – Turkey is still plodding through its EU accession criteria - even though membership remains a long way off.
For 16 years, Toby Jones had plodded though life without exerting himself,
...most of our retailers are plodding through January,...

trudge = again, to walk slowly and laboriously, possibly with the feeling of being very tired or in pain:
He did not try to run. He trudged on, his aching eyes focused straight ahead

It's often used to describe the sensation of walking through something (mud, snow, sand etc) that makes it difficult to move your legs :
...they trudged through the sands of Beirut, with the hot sun striking on their heads.

It seems to be used metaphorically less frequently than plod, but there are some examples :
Few people... can stomach trudging through Proust's work, and who can blame them?

I found one example of them both used together, suggesting that they are often seen as virtual synonyms :
The child's thin legs were plodding. She trudged along slowly, both hands clutching a tired teddy bear.

(Love the tired teddy bear!)

[susan53]

f) He was found wandering/prowling/loitering the neighborhood. (Do prowl and loiter imply he wanted to commit a crime?)

wander = to walk around without aiming to go anywhere in particular.

prowl = to move around quietly, trying not to be noticed, as if hunting.
So yes, prowl does have a sinister feel, as if the person wanted to commit some sort of violence, and the following two examples I found highlight this. The first is from a story about a sheriff's posse hunting a murderer:
While prowling around these buildings, two of the posse recognised the voice of Gonzales
and the second from a story about a man convinced he is being stalked :
I conceived the morbid notion that the man in question was prowling round the house.

Both of these verbs can be followed immediately by a direct object, as in your example and...
I wandered art galleries and went to films
It did not care what sort of person prowled its woods
but they are much more frequently used with a following preposition or adverb. Here are some for wander :
The two children, both boys, wandered around the Australian and me for a few moments
..but wander round the shops and if, now he's gone,,,
...he can wander about you see and jumps up on the furniture ...
You can't wander along in the dark, can you?
Wander past the three superb Columns of Apollo

So here, for me, your example sounds more natural as : He was found wandering / prowling around the neighborhood.

wander also frequently collocates with nouns like mind, and memory to indicate lack of concentration : ...the boy's attention had wandered somewhat

I've talked about loiter with its meaning of "remaining in the same place" above, in the reply to (d) . The only examples that I can find which suggest that at least some movement is involved are always followed by a prepositional phrase : eg Great Expectations, Ch. 15 - As I was loitering along the High Street, looking in disconsolately...
Here loiter seems almost synonymous with wander. But this use is rarer than the other, and interestingly, most of the examples that come up are from literature of at least 50-150 years old. I did find a couple of more modern examples :
I loitered along to a special preview of the film on my lonesome.
She loitered past him, half skipping with excitement.
I loitered past my old house,
In these contexts there was no suggestion of crime and again, the verb always seemed synonymous with wander.

[susan53]

g) The man was staggering/lurching/tottering/wobbling outside the pub. (Is totter also used when you feel weak or dizzy?)

wobble : let's get rid of this one first - it's not relevant here. wobble means to be unbalanced and therefore to move unsteadily from side to side. It could be used, for example of someone learning to ride a bike or to ice-skate. this example comes from an text describing an exercise for body-builders called the "one-leg lunge" :Oh, you'll wobble and weave quite a bit at first. Notice that there's no forward movement involved, and the sideways movement is quite small - too small for this context, where rather than wobble I would choose sway to describe the sort of drunken movement from side to side which you probably mean. sway involves larger movement :
The trees swayed in the wind.
He slowly stood up, swaying like a drunkard.
Again, no forward movement is being described here.

stagger : this is fine in this context, and means to take a large uncertain steps, as if you were about to fall. However, in the examples I've found, it is predominantly used with a prepositional phrase or adverb specifying the direction of the stagger:
He staggered back to the group.
He staggered into the back seat and lay back
He staggered round the rear of the couch
Fists pummeled him as he staggered forward.
So your example wopuld be more natural as :
The man was staggering around outside the pub.

The same is true of lurch ( implying very large, sudden and erratic movements) and totter (small, unsteady steps). Some examples :
The car lurched along..
He lurched on down the road despairingly..
The little child tottered over to its mother...
so again, I'd add around to your example if I used these verbs.

[Ana laura]

Thank you, Thank you and thank you!!

It was great help! Thank you very much for taking the time to explain everything!

Congratulations on this forum!

[susan53]

Thanks - but there's still one left

h)I scrambled/clambered up the mountain to find the best viewpoint of the island.

An easy one though. Both of them mean to climb with difficulty (and inelegantly) using hands and feet, but scrambled gives the idea of moving quite quickly whilst clambered is slower.

[Ana laura]

Thank you again for your patience, Susan.

Bye!

[mesmark]

well done, Susan!