The meaning of "dangerous"

[ritaxis]

When you say something is dangerous
do you mean

A.there is a very high likelihood of something bad happening

or

B.there is any possibility of something extremely -- lethally or near-lethally -- bad happening

or

C. there is a very high likelihood of something very very bad happening?

D. there is either a high likelihood of something bad happening, or any likelihood of something very bad happening or both?


(C is the most exclusive as it requires both a high probability and high stakes: D is the least exclusive as it allows high probability, high stakes or both)

I ask because I was reading a thing and I wasn't sure what I would have meant by saying something about that thing was dangerous, or whether I ought to use the word at all. I am being vague because in the eight and a half minutes it took me to put the question together I have forgotten what I was reading.

Comments

[hrj.livejournal.com]

For me, "danger" is all about your definition B. In my lifestyle, there is an extremely high probability that I will experience a paper cut and an extremely low probability that I will be flattened by a falling piano, but I would rate a piano suspended on a crane as much more dangerous than a sheet of paper.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I think I'd agree with that, except with a note that the definition of "bad" is also context dependent. I'd comment on a "dangerous" chess move for example (when maybe I really meant "risky"), or think of a vase being perched dangerously on the edge of a shelf, when maybe I really mean precariously (it's dangerous from the pov of the vase, you see).