握著or拿著方向盤

[meatie]

Suppose I am drving a car and am going straight.  Then I have both hands on the steering wheeling to keep the car going straight.  Should I write:

 

1. 拿著方向盤

or

2. 握著方向盤

 

I looked up some dictionaries, and they pretty much say "握" = "拿".   But then a native speaker said #1 sounds weird, because it seems like I ripped out the steering wheel from the car and am holding it for everyone to see. 

 

Anyone know if 1 and 2 are the same or different?

 

 

[laowang]

Hi there, native Chinese is correct. I understand 拿 it is very light, normally you can hold with one hand easily while 握 it means you are holding something heavy with some strength. So sometime we say 双手紧握方向盘.

Also you have to say 握住方向盘

[陳德聰]

握 to me specifically necessitates "grip", whereas 拿 does not necessitate "grip" just as #2 said. 拿 is just put something in your hand, whereas 握 is more specific.