Quote:
Originally Posted by sun surfer
It's a flaw in our language. There is no equally specific verb for consuming an audiobook. If we zoom out and look at it objectively, insisting 'listening' is the appropriate verb for an audiobook would be similar to insisting 'looking' is the appropriate verb for a visual text. Can any of you imagine feeling made to say, 'Did you look at the new Stephen King yet?'. Or, 'I've looked at 50 books so far this year.' Or, 'I looked at Pride and Prejudice last night.' It's not nearly as specific nor does it give the same higher connotation as 'reading'.
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Interest. To me, "listening to" something has exactly the same connotation of paying attention that "reading" does.
Consider the different between "I heard loud music last night" and "I listened to a Beethoven Piano Concerto last night". To me, the first implies that it was simply intruding onto your consciousness, probably in an unwelcome way, whereas the second implies that it's something you did by choice, and paid close attention to.