laden with

T

thru

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Eddie, a father? Frasier finds himself laden with a litter of puppies that Eddie fathered with a neighbour's purebred Lhasa, but Martin resists Frasier's demands that Eddie be neutered.

Can I use filled with instead of laden with in that context? Also, could you please explain what's the difference between filled with and laden with?

Thanks.
 
No, you can't. "Laden" is an old word meaning one is carrying a heavy load, a burden.

He's not filled with puppies! Filled means something is inside.

He has a burden now to care for the puppies and find them decent homes.
 
I don't understand why it's Martin's problem. Eddie is a male dog. He didn't have puppies.
 
Tarheel said:
I don't understand why it's Martin's problem. Eddie is a male dog. He didn't have puppies.
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For the same reason that people who own male pets should have them neutered, and owners of female pets should have them spayed. Both of them contribute to the millions of unwanted animal offspring every year. While there are animals in rescue centres and shelters, there's no need for anyone to be breeding more. Frasier's got a very good point!
(As far as humans go, things might be improving a bit, but (historically) while straight men seem to be very happy for their female partner to take responsibility for contraception, or to be sterilised, if anyone suggests they get a vasectomy instead, they're appalled by the idea!)
 
Thank you everyone for your answers.

The following example with laden with is from Cambridge dictionary. Is it OK to use filled with instead of laden with here?
What is the difference between laden with and filled with here?

'The table, as always, was laden with food.'

'The table, as always, was filled with food.

And my second question:
Is the word 'laden' rarely used now.
 
No, the table is not filled with food. "Filled" means something is on the inside. A jar is filled with honey. A tanker is filled with oil.

A table has food on it, not in it. It can be covered with food. It can't be filled with food.

Yes, "laden" is not a common word today.
 
I don't see "laden" very often. When I do it doesn't mean "filled".

You can cover a table.

Cross posted.
 
thru said:
Thank you, everyone, for your answers.

The following example with "laden" with is from Cambridge Dictionary. Is it OK to use "filled with" instead of "laden with" here? What is the difference between "laden with" and "filled with" here?

'The table, as always, was laden with food.'
'The table, as always, was filled with food.'

And my second question: Is the word 'laden' rarely used now?
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Please note my corrections above. You must mark out the words you're asking us to consider in some way. I've put them in quotation marks above. You could put them in italics. (For some reason, you correctly marked out "laden" in your final question but failed to do it in the rest of your post.)
 
To be honest I suspect that the use of "laden" in the original post is due to a word processor autocorrecting a typo incorrectly. The colloquial expression that would fit there would be "landed with".

Edit: correcting just the sort of error that I described!
 
'The table, as always, was laden with food.'
'The table, as always, was covered with food.'

What is the difference between 'laden with' and 'covered with' here?

'Frasier finds himself laden with a litter of puppies...'
'Frasier finds himself landed with a litter of puppies...'

Is there any other subtle difference between 'laden with' and 'landed with' here? I only know 'laden' is not a common word and 'landed with' is a colloquial expression.

Thank you all of you for your helpful answers and corrections.
 
I'm okay with "laden with a litter of puppies" in that context. I'm not familiar with "landed with" at all.
 
Tarheel said:
I'm okay with "laden with a litter of puppies" in that context. I'm not familiar with "landed with" at all.
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I didn't realise that "landed with" was a purely BrE expression. It means being forced to accept an item or task that you didn't want.

I would only use "laden" in the context of a ship or a table.
 
SoothingDave said:
Yes, "laden" is not a common word today.
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But it still exists as a fossil (old word in an old context that just happens to have been preserved in a saying): 'laden to the gunnels'. Of course that itself is rarely used, but when it is it requires 'laden' rather than 'loaded'.

For more on gunnels, see this 10-yr-old post.
 
Never heard of gunnels. In my mind, it brings up a hymn based on Matthew 11:28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
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PeterCW said:
I didn't realise that "landed with" was a purely BrE expression. It means being forced to accept an item or task that you didn't want.

I would only use "laden" in the context of a ship or a table.
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I don't claim to speak for all Americans. I don't want that much responsibility.
šŸ˜Š
 
PeterCW said:
I didn't realise that "landed with" was a purely BrE expression. It means being forced to accept an item or task that you didn't want.
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Does 'laden with' in the sentence 'Frasier finds himself laden with a litter of puppies...' imply to be forced to accept an item or task that you didn't want as the same way as 'landed with' does?

jutfrank said:
Well, 'laden' is about weight and 'covered' is about surface area.
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Hi jutfrank,

Could you please give me examples to explain what you mean by 'weight' and 'surface area'?

Thank you, everyone, very much for your great answers.
 
No, saying something is "laden" does not imply that it was a situation forced upon someone.
 
SoothingDave said:
A jar is filled with honey. A tanker is filled with oil.
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Can I say "A jar is full of honey." "A tanker is full of oil."?

Could you please tell me what the difference is between 'be full of' and 'be filled with' if they are OK here?

Thank you very much.
 

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