Adopt a word

Paulina Piotrowska, ULT w Świeciu, filologia angielska, studia II stopnia

Table of contents:
1. Why care?.........................................................................3
2. Meaning………………………………………….….…….3
3. Etymology…………………………………………….…...5
4. Quotations…………………………………….…………..6
5. Films and TV series titles…………………………………6
6. Song titles……………………………………..……….….7
7. Derivative words…………………………………….……7
8. Idioms…………………………………………….….…….8
9. Phrasal verb……………………………………..….……10
10. Related words…………………………..…….……10

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 1. Why care?

I decided to adopt the word care because the way it sounds evokes positive emotions.
I associate this word with warmth, love and comfort. When I hear the word care, I imagine
a family, a special bond between parents and children. I am a caring type of person. I take
care of my children, animals, home and also my students at work.
I am aware of the fact that this paper does not present all the possible issues connected
with the word “care” but I think it may serve as

2. Meaning

care - noun

1. [uncountable] the process of caring for somebody/something and providing what

they need for their health or protection;
for example:

• Some people were badly injured and needed medical care.

• We aim to continually improve the quality of patient care.

2. [uncountable] (British English) the fact of providing a home in an institution run by

the local authority or with another family for children who cannot live with their
parents;
for example:

• The two girls were taken into care after their parents were killed.
• Mentors support teenagers leaving care.

3. [uncountable] attention or thought that you give to something that you are doing
so that you will do it well and avoid mistakes or damage;
for example:

• Great care is needed when choosing a used car.

• She chose her words with care.

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 4. [countable, usually plural, uncountable] (formal) a feeling of worry; something that
causes problems or worries;
for example:

• I felt free from the cares of the day as soon as I left the building.
• Sam looked as if he didn't have a care in the world.

care – verb

1. [intransitive, transitive] to feel that something is important and worth worrying

about

• I don't care (= I will not be upset) if I never see him again!

• He threatened to fire me, as if I cared!

2. [intransitive] care (about somebody) to like or love somebody and worry about
what happens to them

• He genuinely cares about his employees.

• They care an awful lot about each other.
• It is good to know that there is someone who cares.

3. care to do something to make the effort to do something

• I've done this job more times than I care to remember.

verb forms:

• not used in the progressive tenses

• present simple: I / you / we / they care he / she / it cares
• past simple: cared
• past participle: cared

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 3.Etymology

care – noun

• Old English caru, cearu "sorrow, anxiety, grief" also "burdens of mind; serious
mental attention," in late Old English also "concern, anxiety caused
by apprehension of evil or the weight of many burdens,"
from Proto-Germanic *karō "lament; grief, care" (source also of Old
Saxon kara "sorrow;" Old High German chara "wail, lament;" Gothic kara "sorrow,
trouble, care;" German Karfreitag "Good Friday;" see care (v.)).
• Meaning "charge, oversight, attention or heed with a view to safety or protection"
is attested from c. 1400; this is the sense in care of in addressing (1840).
Meaning "object or matter of concern" is from 1580s. To take care of "take in hand,
do" is from 1580s; take care "be careful" also is from 1580s.
• The primary sense is that of inward grief, and the word is not connected,
either in sense or form, with L. cura, care, of which the primary sense is pains
or trouble bestowed upon something.

care – verb

• Old English carian, cearian "be anxious or solicitous; grieve; feel concern
or interest," from Proto-Germanic *karo- "lament," hence "grief, care" (source also
of Old Saxon karon "to lament, to care, to sorrow, complain," Old High
German charon "complain, lament," Gothic karon "be anxious"), said to be from
PIE root *gar- "cry out, call, scream" (source also of Irish gairm "shout, cry, call;"
The prehistoric sense development is from "cry" to "lamentation" to "grief."

• A different sense evolution is represented in related Dutch karig "scanty, frugal,"

German karg "stingy, scanty." It is not considered to be related to Latin cura.
Positive senses, such as "have an inclination" (1550s); "have fondness for" (1520s)
seem to have developed later as mirrors to the earlier negative ones.

• To not care as a negative dismissal is attested from mid-13c.

Phrase couldn't care less is from 1946; could care less in the same sense (with an
understood negative) is from 1955.

• Care also has figured since 1580s in many "similies of indifference" in the form
don't care a _____, with the blank filled
by fig, pin, button, cent, straw, rush, point, farthing, snap.

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 4. Quotations

“My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves."
― Socrates
“Don’t sacrifice yourself too much, because if you sacrifice too much there’s nothing else you can give and nobody will
care for you.” ― Karl Lagerfeld

“My spirit. This is a new thought. I'm not sure exactly what it means, but it suggests I'm a fighter. In a sort of brave
way. It's not as if I'm never friendly. Okay, maybe I don't go around loving everybody I meet, maybe my smiles are
hard to come by, but I do care for some people.” ― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

“Naruto: I bet you're dying to know my name!

Gaara: I couldn't care less.” ― Masashi Kishimoto

“I hate the way, once you start to know someone, care about them, their behavior can distress you, even when it's
unreasonable and not your fault, even if you were really trying to be careful, tactful.” ― Tanith Lee, Wolf Star

“...I think that people who make judgements about other people they don't even know are shallow, and people who start
rumors are shallow, and I really don't care what shallow people say about me.”
― Nina LaCour, Hold Still

“For what is love itself, for the one we love best? - an enfolding of immeasurable cares which yet are better than any
joys outside our love.” ― George Eliot, Daniel Deronda

5. Films and TV series titles

• Care (David Blair, 2018)

• The Care Bears Movie (1985, animation)
• Take Care (Liz Tuccillo, 2014)
• The Fundamentals of Caring (Rob Burnett, 2016)
• I Care a Lot (J Blakeston, 2020)
• Taking Care of Business (Arthur Hiller, 1990)

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 6. Song titles

• They Don’t Care About Us, Michael Jackson

• Devil May Care, Diana Krall
• You Don’t Care About Us, Placebo
• You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care), Buddy Holly
• What Do I Care, Johnny Cash
• Take Care Of Your Woman, Roy Orbison
• I Care 4 U, Aaliyah
• My Baby Just Cares for Me, Nina Simone

7. Derivative words

• carefree – n., having or showing freedom from worries or troubles, e.g. The 1,500 Jersey
cows that Nathan Chittenden and his family raise in upstate New York seem to lead
carefree lives.
• careful – adj., having or showing a close attentiveness to avoiding danger or trouble,
e.g. Squeeze juice from lemon, being careful to remove seeds.
• carefully – adv., scrupulously, cautiously, e.g. She carefully preserved all his letters.
• carefulness – n., a close attentiveness to avoiding danger
• caregiver – n., a person who has responsibility for the care of another, e.g. In Spain, a
96-year-old nursing home resident and a caregiver in Guadalajara were the first
Spaniards to be vaccinated.
• caregiving – n., taking care of someone, e.g. During infancy, the primary role of the
parent-child relationship is nurturing and predictability, and much of the relationship
revolves around the day-to-day demands of caregiving: feeding, toileting, bathing, and
going to bed.
• careless – adj., untroubled, indifferent, unconcerned, e.g. The fissures, sinkholes, creaks
and leaks plaguing Arizona schools are not because districts are careless about
maintenance, but because of the state’s financial neglect, which comes at the expense of
Arizona children.

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• carer – n., someone who takes care of a person who is young, old, or sick, e.g. Putting
relatives into care does not necessarily reduce carer stress8 and in some cases it may
worsen it.
• caress – n., a gentle and loving touch or kiss, e.g. One of her gentle caresses touched the
corner of his mouth.
• caretaker- n., a person employed to take care of a large building, such as a school, and
who deals with the cleaning, repairs, e.g. The building’s caretaker reported the fire.
• careworn – adj., appearing tired, worried, and unhappy, e.g. She looks more careworn
than ever.

8. Idioms

take care (of yourself) - used in spoken, informal English to say goodbye
could care less - to not care at all
without a care in the world - without worrying about anything:
have all the cares of the world on your shoulders - to be very worried by many different problems
care of - used to give someone the address where you can be contacted when you are staying away
from home
not care a fig, a sod, tuppence, a damn, a toss or two hoots - to not be worried at all by something
like you care! - used to emphasize that something that has been suggested is not true or would
never happen

9. Collocations

ADJECTIVE + CARE
general/other medical/cosmetology social
good, great hospital, clinical, emergency, parental, foster
e.g. He loved his books and health, medical, nursing
took great care of them. (especially British English)

loving, tender intensive preventive (especially North

e.g. She will need lots of tender e.g. Last night she was critically American English)
loving care. ill in intensive care.
an intensive care unit
continuing, long-term dental community
Voluntary, private psychiatric domiciliary (British English,
formal), home, home-based

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 daily, day-to-day, routine patient public
inpatient residential
outpatient institutional
respite
formal, informal (both antenatal child usually childcare, day,
especially British English), maternity e.g. Family members can
e.g. The couple relied on prenatal provide child care with love and
informal care from relatives. without charge.
proper palliative children in public care
e.g. With proper care, the
plants may last for fifty years.
primary, secondary, tertiary haircare, skincare, body, nail
spiritual, pastoral
short-term, temporary
constant, full-time
client (especially British
English), customer

VERB + CARE

• take care, e.g. He left his job to take care of his sick wife. I’ll take care of hiring the car.
• deliver, provide (somebody with) care, e.g. We have improved the way doctors deliver care.
• need, require care
• receive care
• take somebody into care (British English) e.g. The boys were taken into care when their parents
died.
• exercise, take care
• need, require care e.g. Transporting the specimens requires great care.

CARE + NOUN

• services, access to basic health-care services

• centre/center, facility, home, unit (all especially British English)
• manager, worker
• giver, provider
• plan, policy, programme/program

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• delivery
• needs
• package
• allowance

• order

WITH PREPOSITION

• in care, e.g. He had been in foster care since he was five.

• in somebody’s care, e.g. You won’t come to any harm while you’re in their care.
• under the care of, e.g. He’s under the care of Dr Parks.

10. Phrasal verb

care for somebody to look after somebody who is sick, very old, very young, e.g. The children are
being cared for by a relative.

11. Related words

synonyms

responsibility affliction aggravation alarm anguish annoyance

anxiety apprehension bother burden chagrin charge
consternation discomposure dismay disquiet distress disturbance
encumbrance exasperation fear foreboding fretfulness handicap
hardship hindrance impediment incubus load misgiving
nuisance onus oppression perplexity pressure solicitude
sorrow stew strain stress sweat tribulation
trouble uneasiness unhappiness vexation woe worry

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antonyms

inconsiderateness inconsideration thoughtlessness unconcern unkindness carelessness

abruptness hastiness impetuousness precipitousness rashness suddenness
inconsiderateness inconsideration thoughtlessness brashness carelessness heedlessness
incaution incautiousness recklessness unwariness

hyperonyms

control love aid all heart attention attribute behaviour

hyponyms

health personal baby overprotective babysitting dental first aid hair care
care care sitting feelings care

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