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I'm reading "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne.

In chapter 39: "Man Alive", I came across the following:

His head, which was as big as a buffalo's was half hidden in the tangled growth of his unkempt hair - a positive mane, like that of the primitive elephant.

I want to know the meaning of "positive" mane. The author in an earlier chapter also used it as following:

positive roar; positive statements; positive pleasure; positive whirlpool; positive deluge
(In later chapters as:) positive rout; positively disgraceful

Please help.

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    Intensifier positive as cited is a stylised / literary usage, in a context where most people would have used real. Compare She prepared a real feast for the guests (dozens of hits in Google Books) and She prepared a positive feast for the guests (no recorded instances in Google Books).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 16:22
  • @FumbleFingers thanks a lot! That's quite an accurate and a succinct replacement.
    – InanimateBeing
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 17:02
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    I wouldn't go so far as to denigrate your cited translator's choice of intensifier (it's perfectly "acceptable", just not necessarily the "best" choice). But if you do want to emulate this stylised / literary usage yourself, it's worth noting the far more common choice: She prepared a veritable feast for the guests (again, dozens of hits in Google Books).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 17:12
  • @FumbleFingers sure, thanks a lot for the kind advice. But I guess it wouldn't fit with veritable whirlpool and likes, isn't it?
    – InanimateBeing
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 17:13
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    As @WeatherVane says, perhaps your translator just likes the word "positive". Personally I don't see much point in using positive[ly] to intensify referents like whirlpool, disgraceful anyway. Nobody ever says anything is veritably disgraceful - but apart from that "adverbial" context, you should probably stick with real (for all "natural" contexts - but consider veritable for "stylised" contexts).
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 17:25

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Cambridge has for positive

certain and without any doubt.

So his hair wasn't just long, but ... [like an animal's hair].
It is typically used for emphasis, e.g.

It wasn't just a lucky find: it was a positive gold mine!

The usage here is similar to one use of 'very'

This is the very thing I was looking for.

Also see Merriam-Webster

2c (2) UNQUALIFIED a positive disgrace.

Jules Verne wrote in French. It is reckoned that some of the translations were not very good. Perhaps the translator liked that particular "turn of phrase".

You could go back to the French to find out what adjectives Verne used.

Edit: Project Gutenberg shows the original French to be

On eût dit une véritable crinière

FWIW Google Translate gives that as

It looked like a real mane

Remember too that your translation may have been 19th century English usage.

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  • Thank you, +1, after speculating a bit more, your answer is making more sense as time is passing as apart from the translation issues which might be the case, but otherwise also, a scientist again and again saying "positive" might be related to their profession where confirmation is needed explicitly in their statements (and this is a far cry in thinking but maybe to reflect that they are sober while making the statement?).
    – InanimateBeing
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 16:08
  • @InanimateBeing: it does not have that connotation for this native English speaker. Indeed, somewhat the reverse, because using "positive" in this way suggests a strongly subjective evaluation, which is the converse of what is (stereotypically) appropriate to a scientist.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 17:29
  • It's a bit old-fashioned but it's not a wrong translation, just a particular usage of positive. (You sometimes see "véritable" translated as "veritable" which is much worse!)
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 16, 2022 at 20:24
  • @StuartF, a different view point. Appreciated. Thanks a lot!
    – InanimateBeing
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 4:48

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