given

[Dan Goncharoff]

To me, the "cautiously and skeptically" is provided by the word "appears",
not the word "given". I think it means what you think it means in this
sentence.

DanG


On Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 6:10 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      given
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Isn't this a weird (or at least very recent) use of "given"?
>  http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ncv/case-def.html<
> http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ncv/case-def.html>
>
> "The efficiency of person-to-person transmission of novel coronavirus is
> not well characterized but appears to be low, given the small number of
> confirmed cases since the discovery of the virus."
>
> It seems to mean "if one takes cautiously or skeptically into account" or
> something. But to me, "given" means more like "because of." (OED isn't much
> help on this.)
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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