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HighPeakFox

Pedantry Central

By HighPeakFox, in General Chat

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Three of my favourites:

 

"Jesus wet!"

"Swinging the leg" (apparently complete with visual demonstration)

"Part of the parcel"

 

 

1

 

7 hours ago, ozleicester said:

lol what is this meant to be, ive never heard it

 

1 hour ago, Countryfox said:

Its meant to be swinging the lead ...   old nautical expression and used to describe a lazy person ...   

 

30 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

It's excitingly obscure, isn't it? I must admit I knew what it meant, but not where it came from

 

Ok, I'm going adhere to the theme of the thread here and point out a couple of things. :D

 

Firstly, being extremely pedantic, it doesn't describe a person at all - it describes an action.

 

Secondly, it refers to the act of malingering, not laziness per se (ie. "he hasn't got a bad back at all, he's swinging the lead")

 

And thirdly, and most interesting, is that the etymology is uncertain and may actually be an old army term which has been corrupted from swinging the leg, after all.

 

To explain: The most commonly accepted belief is that swinging the lead is a naval term, as CF said, which literally describes the action of swinging a lead weight attached to a length of rope. Before the days of sonar, this was how sailors gauged the depth of the water around the ship. It was a boring and repetitive task that required hard work constantly lifting the heavy weight, and the suggestion is that unless supervised by an officer, some sailors would just idly swing the lead on its rope without actually performing the task. Because this would more accurately describe a lazy action, rather than one of malingering, some scholars favour the belief that its etymology comes from the act of soldiers literally swinging the leg (ie walking with a pronounced stiffness to one leg) to feign injury and thus avoid duties. It's also worth pointing out that the phrase didn't enter the English language until the early 20th century (its first recorded use was 1917) long after the days of sail, and that it first did so among soldiers, not sailors, although It's possible that the phrase was coined by soldiers in allusion to a supposed form of malingering by sailors.

 

You're welcome. :D

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HighPeakFox

HighPeakFox

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

 

 

 

Ok, I'm going adhere to the theme of the thread here and point out a couple of things. :D

 

Firstly, being extremely pedantic, it doesn't describe a person at all - it describes an action.

 

Secondly, it refers to the act of malingering, not laziness per se (ie. "he hasn't got a bad back at all, he's swinging the lead")

 

And thirdly, and most interesting, is that the etymology is uncertain and may actually be an old army term which has been corrupted from swinging the leg, after all.

 

To explain: The most commonly accepted belief is that swinging the lead is a naval term, as CF said, which literally describes the action of swinging a lead weight attached to a length of rope. Before the days of sonar, this was how sailors gauged the depth of the water around the ship. It was a boring and repetitive task that required hard work constantly lifting the heavy weight, and the suggestion is that unless supervised by an officer, some sailors would just idly swing the lead on its rope without actually performing the task. Because this would more accurately describe a lazy action, rather than one of malingering, some scholars favour the belief that its etymology comes from the act of soldiers literally swinging the leg (ie walking with a pronounced stiffness to one leg) to feign injury and thus avoid duties. It's also worth pointing out that the phrase didn't enter the English language until the early 20th century (its first recorded use was 1917) long after the days of sail, and that it first did so among soldiers, not sailors, although It's possible that the phrase was coined by soldiers in allusion to a supposed form of malingering by sailors.

 

You're welcome. :D

Bloody hell Buce, next time I'm in Oadby (from whence I came), we can go for a beer together and have a really shit time!

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Wow, Buce. You've really taken this as far as anyone can.

 

Or have you?

 

Man, I haven't even started. :D

 

1 minute ago, HighPeakFox said:

Bloody hell Buce, next time I'm in Oadby (from whence I came), we can go for a beer together and have a really shit time!

 

The etymology of words and phrases is my thing, Peaky - I could bore you to sleep with it. lol

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Bloody hell Buce, next time I'm in Oadby (from whence I came), we can go for a beer together and have a really shit time!

 

I'm going to go full pedant on this one, Peaky, and point out that since 'whence' means from where, the use of 'from' with it is unnecessary.

 

Well, you did start the thread... lol

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, HighPeakFox said:

Here's some advice, then, to you and everyone - avoid the Politics thread. Christ alive, it's scary what some people think.

 

There is great wisdom in that, mate - I regret it every time I go there.

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Countryfox

Countryfox

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

I'm going to go full pedant on this one, Peaky, and point out that since 'whence' means from where, the use of 'from' with it is unnecessary.

 

Well, you did start the thread... lol

 

44 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

You need help, my friend! ;)

 

Nice one Suzie !! ...   Peaky out Peaked !!! ....     Hurrah !!     :D

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Buce

Buce

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Countryfox said:

 

 

Nice one Suzie !! ...   Peaky out Peaked !!! ....     Hurrah !!     :D

 

2 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Never mind out Peaked, the man has scaled the Everest of etymological pedantry.

 

Sad bastard that I am, I will accept that as a compliment. :D

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bovril

bovril

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, ozleicester said:

"the" Ukraine.

 

No! its like saying......... The England

It's not really. I think it's The Ukraine because the name comes from the Russian for "the border".

 

3 hours ago, Vacamion said:

 

I can't believe this thread made it this far without "less" / "fewer" being raised.

 

I am an utterly annoying pedant on this one.

 

"Less" + countable noun is no longer counted as a mistake on Cambridge English language exams like IELTS, you won't be pleased to know. 

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Strokes

Strokes

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, SystonFox said:

The definitely / defiantly debate is that not just an iPhone autocorrect error if you mis place one of the letters in either word?

 

surely people aren’t stoopid enough to type defiantly when they mean definitely????

Quiet and quite happens a fair bit too.

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ozleicester

ozleicester

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Another one from work:

 

"more better"

 

e.g. "The changes to the procedure made it more better"

 

2 hours ago, Webbo said:

Everyone knows it's betterer.

Pshhawwww -

 

"more betterer"

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