Pedantry Central

[Jattdogg]

2 hours ago, Buce said:

 

 

 

 

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

 

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.

Did you almost ejaculate at the end of that? Lol 

 

[ozleicester]

16 hours ago, bovril said:

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

 

 

Well no, if you are going to historical namings... England = The "Angles Land"

 

Therefore should we refer to it as The England?

 

Ukraine is the name of a country.

[VLC86]

On 23/06/2018 at 01:18, ozleicester said:

"the" Ukraine.

 

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

Might have been picked up on this by Nicky Campbell on 5Live while in “The Ukraine” before.

 

Asking people to enter their PIN number is an interesting one, I’m well aware the N stands for number so you are actually saying it twice but still bloody do it.

[ozleicester]

4 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Might have been picked up on this by Nicky Campbell on 5Live while in “The Ukraine” before.

 

Asking people to enter their PIN number is an interesting one, I’m well aware the N stands for number so you are actually saying it twice but still bloody do it.

I found i had to train myself to ask for pin "code"  its probably incorrect but....

[TiffToff88]

1 hour ago, Costock_Fox said:

Might have been picked up on this by Nicky Campbell on 5Live while in “The Ukraine” before.

 

Asking people to enter their PIN number is an interesting one, I’m well aware the N stands for number so you are actually saying it twice but still bloody do it.

I used to do PAT Testing. PAT stands for "Portable Appliance Testing" so I did portable appliance testing testing

[HighPeakFox]

I'm starting to feel guilty for unleashing this thread now...

[Bellend Sebastian]

11 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I'm starting to feel guilty for unleashing this thread now...

I think you've given a lot of folk a great opportunity to unburden themselves of a lot of pent up issues.

 

Or just made everyone even more furious

[Buce]

42 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I'm starting to feel guilty for unleashing this thread now...

 

29 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

I think you've given a lot of folk a great opportunity to unburden themselves of a lot of pent up issues.

 

Or just made everyone even more furious

 

I think it will turn out to be useful - instead of people correcting individual posts, they can come on here and moan about it, which makes it less personal and confrontational.

[HighPeakFox]

You're both right - I am a facilitator. Go me

[FoxesDeb]

It's my current favourite thread. Most of the things I would have said have already been mentioned, but I have a couple more. Sat and sitting winds me up, nobody ever seems to be sitting anymore, they've all been sat down by someone else. Also, the shift towards people saying 'can I get' instead of 'Can I have' 

[bovril]

7 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

Asking people to enter their PIN number is an interesting one, I’m well aware the N stands for number so you are actually saying it twice but still bloody do it.

"For the sake of auld lang syne." 

[Carl the Llama]

People who ask "do you want to [...]?" when asking you to do a thing that nobody wants to do.

[HighPeakFox]

2 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

People who ask "do you want to [...]?" when asking you to do a thing that nobody wants to do.

Indeed - my Mum used to ask me 'would you like to do the washing up, John?'

 

You can probably guess my various responses to that.

[HighPeakFox]

Instilled / installed. HATE!

[notnow john]

20 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Indeed - my Mum used to ask me 'would you like to do the washing up, John?'

 

You can probably guess my various responses to that.

People who masquerade as an urbane John,when we all know

theyre a Doug.

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, FoxesDeb said:

It's my current favourite thread. Most of the things I would have said have already been mentioned, but I have a couple more. Sat and sitting winds me up, nobody ever seems to be sitting anymore, they've all been sat down by someone else. Also, the shift towards people saying 'can I get' instead of 'Can I have' 

This particularly winds me up. If someone asks "can I get", it's essentially asking if they can help themselves to whatever it is they're asking for. Fecking Americanisms

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, notnow john said:

People who masquerade as an urbane John,when we all know

theyre a Doug.

a) That's not pedantry

b) I think I know my own name

c) I also know why you think you're right

d) You're still wrong

 

[Countryfox]

10 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

a) That's not pedantry

b) I think I know my own name

c) I also know why you think you're right

d) You're still wrong

 

 

Well done Peaky ...   keep them in check and don’t let the thread standards drop ! ..   

 

Carry on.

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Countryfox said:

 

Well done Peaky ...   keep them in check and don’t let the thread standards drop ! ..   

 

Carry on.

Absolutely no idea what possesses some people to say such odd things.

[notnow john]

10 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

a) That's not pedantry

b) I think I know my own name

c) I also know why you think you're right

d) You're still wrong

 

I was rather hoping you'd go for the missing apostrophe.

Too simple !

 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, notnow john said:

I was rather hoping you'd go for the missing apostrophe.

Too simple !

 

AH! Too cunning for me

 

I also saw a missing space after a comma

 

[Countryfox]

5 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Absolutely no idea what possesses some people to say such odd things.

What me or him ? ..

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Countryfox said:

What me or him ? ..

Him - I'm none the wiser yet but it seems friendly enough (I hope)

[Buce]

48 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

People who ask "do you want to [...]?" when asking you to do a thing that nobody wants to do.

 

Do you want to explain that?

 

45 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Indeed - my Mum used to ask me 'would you like to do the washing up, John?'

 

You can probably guess my various responses to that.

 

She doesn't know you're called Peaky?

 

What kind of mother is she?

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Buce said:

What kind of mother is she?

There's a bloody long answer to that question No doubt some wit will find one.