conserve

[whatiswhat]

Hi,

Do we say ( to conserve our heritage or to preserve our heritage)?

I cannot tell the difference.

Please help,. thanks

[Marius Hancu]

Use preserve, it's 10 times more frequent at Yahoo in this combination. Google is down for me now:-[

[MrPedantic]

Sometimes "conservation" relates to the manner of maintaining a resource: thus you "conserve" water by using it sensibly.

Similarly, conservation of heritage (or wildlife) may involve a realistic adjustment to external pressures; whereas preservation does not have this sense.

Thus "preserving" a painting implies protection from damage, etc., but "conservation" might also involve cleaning it.

You could say that "preservation" is always the goal of "conservation"; but "preservation" does not necessarily include "conservation".

Best wishes,

MrP

[whatiswhat]

wonderful answers, pal.

:)

[Marius Hancu]

At a tough/selective site, the New York Times:

66 from nytimes.com for "to preserve our heritage"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anytimes.com+%22to+preserve+our+heritage%2 2&btnG=Search

0 from nytimes.com for "to conserve our heritage"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Anytimes.com+%22to+conserve+our+heritage%2 2&btnG=Search

[Bridget]

This is interesting:

Conserve

to keep in a safe (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Safe) or sound (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Sound) state (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/State), preserve (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Preserve) from change (http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Change) or destruction.

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Conserve

Where would you say the word "safeguard" fits in all this?

[MrPedantic]

At a tough/selective site, the New York Times:


It's possible that "heritage" has slightly different connotations, in BrE.

Searching with site: org.uk and site:gov.uk, which should return UK charities and government sites respectively, "preserve our heritage" has the advantage; but "conserve our heritage" returns a healthy minority.

MrP

[Marius Hancu]

It's possible that "heritage" has slightly different connotations, in BrE.

Searching with site: org.uk and site:gov.uk, which should return UK charities and government sites respectively, "preserve our heritage" has the advantage; but "conserve our heritage" returns a healthy minority.

MrPIt looks like it, but the BBC, which is a relatively strict site, returns:

39 from bbc.co.uk for "to preserve our heritage"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Abbc.co.uk++%22to+preserve+our+heritage%22&btnG=Search

1 from bbc.co.uk for "to conserve our heritage"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Abbc.co.uk++%22to+conserve+our+heritage%22&btnG=Search

Other than that, I find enough returns of "conserve our heritage" even at Google Books, but in cases of doubt, I prefer to go to the NYT and the BBC.

[MrPedantic]

The BBC/NYT results are interesting; but the org.uk and gov.uk searches return hits on organisations whose business is conservation/preservation.

While "conserve" is no doubt less common generally, in combinations with "heritage", it does in any case have a slightly different implication from "preserve". Thus the PR depts of some "heritage" organisations may well prefer to use "conserve" because "preserve" can imply "fossilisation". (For example, I would expect "conserve" to be more common in the utterances of the World Wildlife Fund.)

MrP

[Marius Hancu]

I should have looked here first:

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Preserve stresses the idea of resistance to destructive agencies and hence implies the use of means to keep something in existence or intact

<old records are preserved by protecting them from light and moisture>

<preserve food for winter use>

<constitutions are intended to preserve practical and substantial rights, not to maintain theories>

Conserve, on the other hand, suggests keeping sound and unimpaired and implies the means to prevent unnecessary or excessive change, loss or depletion

<a convalescent must conserve his energy>

<our constitutional rights can be conserved only by an intelligent electorate>

<the air is recirculated within the cabin in order to conserve heat>

<sipped coffee, made from his carefully conserved supply brought with him from England>

Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms, p. 711
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