Difference between guilt and blame, to bear, to handle and to support

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi Torsten

Could you help me understand the diference about:
guilt and blame /
to bear, to handle and to suport

Thanks a lot

Matias

2

Hi Matias,

Both ‘guilt’ and shame’ have the idea of showing some kind of result following what you have done wrong. ‘Guilt’ is usually proved that you are responsible for what you have done wrong as the adjective ‘guilty’ is used when a court has decided that you committed the crime. ‘Shame’ is something you feel internally about what you have done wrong and is a sort of bad conscience.

As for the three verbs you have mentioned, the meaning will depend very much on the context. Generally ‘bear’ can mean endure in a figurative sense as in ‘bear sorrow, pain’ and so on. ‘Handle’ can mean touch and pick up something with your hands and ‘support’ can mean ‘hold up’ or ‘encourage’. I could give you a more precise definition if you showed me the verbs in use in a sentence.

Alan

3

Wasn’t it blame that the poster was asking about?

4

Thanks, Molly

Hi Matias,

As Molly has pointed out, the other word should be ‘blame’. ‘Guilt’ as I pointed out can be proved in a court for wrong doing. ‘Blame’ on the other hand is often an accusation against someone for wrong doing but is more what people think and isn’t necessarily proved. That’s probably why you’ll often find the word used in a negative sense: They shouldn’t take the blame for what has happened - in other words it wasn’t their fault.

Alan