Linguistic pedantry

[thursday_next]

The day I actually use the word 'meh' in a sentence will be the day I draw the gun out of my drawer and shoot myself in the head. Apart from today, of course.

 

On the bright side, I think we have got to find a use for the word 'pingdemic' before it disappears, because it's so good. I know I run the risk of being satirised by HPF for using the word 'we', but in this case I think it's justified. 

[SouthStandUpperTier]

10 minutes ago, thursday_next said:

The day I actually use the word 'meh' in a sentence will be the day I draw the gun out of my drawer and shoot myself in the head. Apart from today, of course.

 

On the bright side, I think we have got to find a use for the word 'pingdemic' before it disappears, because it's so good. I know I run the risk of being satirised by HPF for using the word 'we', but in this case I think it's justified. 

You have a gun in your drawer?

[thursday_next]

1 minute ago, SouthStandUpperTier said:

You have a gun in your drawer?

Yes. I'm going to have to find a new place to put it because every time I go into the drawer it's generally for post-it notes, biros, screen-cleaning fluid or staplers and it makes me slightly uncomfortable to think I've got a Glock 44 with all the other stuff. Especially with all these children around, because I teach in a primary school. Mind you, it has to be said that it's a rough primary school, hence me having the Glock in the first place.

[HighPeakFox]

54 minutes ago, thursday_next said:

The day I actually use the word 'meh' in a sentence will be the day I draw the gun out of my drawer and shoot myself in the head. Apart from today, of course.

 

On the bright side, I think we have got to find a use for the word 'pingdemic' before it disappears, because it's so good. I know I run the risk of being satirised by HPF for using the word 'we', but in this case I think it's justified. 

That use of 'we' is perfectly acceptable to me as it isn't coercive and doesn't appropriate my opinion. 

[Carl the Llama]

1 hour ago, HighPeakFox said:

That use of 'we' is perfectly acceptable to me as it isn't coercive and doesn't appropriate my opinion. 

We all know you're secretly seething.

[fuchsntf]

On 12/08/2021 at 15:41, HighPeakFox said:

Anchoring/hankering - never thought I'd see that.

Never desired to sink a ship,  but if  too long in one place I was always hankering to weigh anchor.

then One can easily get berthed or Lashed to perceiving that any language especially English is

Made fast or anchored to One Desired Ship or a Fleet order...

 

Oh Yes I Take the Mick & Play around on this forum, and a snotty Expats forum.

 

English & Spanish Italian  three Beautiful languages, that some self-named cononisseurs would say stay to hard & fast rules though word Order can

often be played around with...Though over the last few 100years there has been alot of Nick & tuck regulation changes, why what One learnt has a kid

or just 10 years ago might of already been Partly kicked into touch...The English 12 tenses might in 80 years be only 5...

Are we not forgetting surely forgetting  communication is more important than being pedantic on the correct grammar.

Grammar even punctuation sets, are like ships hankering to be anchored, they Bob around the waves...Rule Brittania. and all that..

 

Edited 17 August 2021 by fuchsntf

[HighPeakFox]

1 hour ago, fuchsntf said:

Never desired to sink a ship,  but if  too long in one place I was always hankering to weigh anchor.

then One can easily get berthed or Lashed to perceiving that any language especially English is

Made fast or anchored to One Desired Ship or a Fleet order...

 

Oh Yes I Take the Mick & Play around on this forum, and a snotty Expats forum.

 

English & Spanish Italian  three Beautiful languages, that some self-named cononisseurs would say stay to hard & fast rules though word Order can

often be played around with...Though over the last few 100years there has been alot of Nick & tuck regulation changes, why what One learnt has a kid

or just 10 years ago might of already been Partly kicked into touch...The English 12 tenses might in 80 years be only 5...

Are we not forgetting surely forgetting  communication is more important than being pedantic on the correct grammar.

Grammar even punctuation sets, are like ships hankering to be anchored, they Bob around the waves...Rule Brittania. and all that..

 

I think I know the point you're making... the idea of this thread is for us to be honestly pedantic without causing direct 'offence' by commenting in the middle of a discussion about football and thus causing an unnecessary diversion. It's an honour to have a fuchsntf riff about this, even if it ought to come with a health warning for irony... 

[thursday_next]

2 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

Never desired to sink a ship,  but if  too long in one place I was always hankering to weigh anchor.

then One can easily get berthed or Lashed to perceiving that any language especially English is

Made fast or anchored to One Desired Ship or a Fleet order...

 

'You speak to me in parables. You may have known that I'm no wordy man, Fine speeches are the instrument of knaves And fools, when they want good sense; But honesty Needs no disguise or ornament: be plain'.

 

Thomas Otway - Restoration dramatist.

 

He'd been greeted at the Quarter-deck by a Youth of loutish and ungather'd appearance, recruited just recently in a press-gang sweep of Wapping, who exclaim'd, "Damme! Look at this, Boys! An officer wha' knows enough to come in out of the rain".

Trying not to bark, Capt Smith replied, "What's your name, sailor?"

"By some I be styl'd, 'Blinky.' And who might you be?"

"Attend me, Blinky,---I am the Captain of this Vessel"

"Well", advised the young salt, "You've got a good job,---don't **** up."

 

Thomas Pynchon, 'Mason and Dixon'

 

 

 

[fuchsntf]

2 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

I think I know the point you're making... the idea of this thread is for us to be honestly pedantic without causing direct 'offence' by commenting in the middle of a discussion about football and thus causing an unnecessary diversion. It's an honour to have a fuchsntf riff about this, even if it ought to come with a health warning for irony... 

First chance I had at an  hack at GPS....

 

Plus if I were Not so damm tyred, I would reply to youre eyeonic yoke...

[fuchsntf]

1 hour ago, thursday_next said:

'You speak to me in parables. You may have known that I'm no wordy man, Fine speeches are the instrument of knaves And fools, when they want good sense; But honesty Needs no disguise or ornament: be plain'.

 

Thomas Otway - Restoration dramatist.

 

He'd been greeted at the Quarter-deck by a Youth of loutish and ungather'd appearance, recruited just recently in a press-gang sweep of Wapping, who exclaim'd, "Damme! Look at this, Boys! An officer wha' knows enough to come in out of the rain".

Trying not to bark, Capt Smith replied, "What's your name, sailor?"

"By some I be styl'd, 'Blinky.' And who might you be?"

"Attend me, Blinky,---I am the Captain of this Vessel"

"Well", advised the young salt, "You've got a good job,---don't **** up."

 

Thomas Pynchon, 'Mason and Dixon'

 

 

 

Well  mi hearty...Shiver mi timbers...nor ye waste not on the bottom tot of here  barrel...

[HighPeakFox]

Seeing as / seeming. I guess people hear it wrong.

 

Oh, and this is probably irrational on my part, but please don't refer to Raducanu as Emma. I know it's her first name, but it's so possessive and over-familiar.

 

Might have to ban myself now for misdirecting my own thread... 

[gerblod]

On 10/09/2021 at 10:00, HighPeakFox said:

Oh, and this is probably irrational on my part, but please don't refer to Raducanu as Emma. I know it's her first name, but it's so possessive and over-familiar.

 

Might have to ban myself now for misdirecting my own thread... 

Hmmm. Too late in my case - I've already referred to her as Emma in the appropriate thread. I think that might even transition into 'Emms' if she continues in this vein. Boris caught on when referring to the young Mr. Becker.

 

Maybe we should come up with a compromise nickname - 'Rads', 'Radu' - like we do with the lads - Madders, Barnsey, Vards - although Youri is currently favourite. It's a hard one.

 

 

[Raj]

Loathe posters who feel the need to use the word embarrassing  when describing some events when a word less dramatic will suffice.....

[Milo]

38 minutes ago, gerblod said:

Hmmm. Too late in my case - I've already referred to her as Emma in the appropriate thread. I think that might even transition into 'Emms' if she continues in this vein. Boris caught on when referring to the young Mr. Becker.

 

Maybe we should come up with a compromise nickname - 'Rads', 'Radu' - like we do with the lads - Madders, Barnsey, Vards - although Youri is currently favourite. It's a hard one.

 

 

I think she’s known as ‘Radders’ on the circuit. 
 

That would work. 

[HighPeakFox]

2 hours ago, Raj said:

Loathe posters who feel the need to use the word embarrassing  when describing some events when a word less dramatic will suffice.....

Further misdirection, tut tut 

[murphy]

10 hours ago, Raj said:

Loathe posters who feel the need to use the word embarrassing  when describing some events when a word less dramatic will suffice.....

But isn't that a bit dramatic?

 

On 17/08/2021 at 12:46, thursday_next said:

The day I actually use the word 'meh' in a sentence will be the day I draw the gun out of my drawer and shoot myself in the head. Apart from today, of course.

 

On the bright side, I think we have got to find a use for the word 'pingdemic' before it disappears, because it's so good. I know I run the risk of being satirised by HPF for using the word 'we', but in this case I think it's justified. 

Portmanteau words are an abomination.

[murphy]

I don't know whether this one has been covered yet?  A common sight in supermarkets, but shouldn't that read ten items or fewer?  

 

 

[FoxesDeb]

27 minutes ago, murphy said:

I don't know whether this one has been covered yet?  A common sight in supermarkets, but shouldn't that read ten items or fewer?  

 

 

Yes I think it has, or maybe not here but I have seen it discussed online, and yes it definitely should 

[davieG]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

I don't know whether this one has been covered yet?  A common sight in supermarkets, but shouldn't that read ten items or fewer?  

 

 

Doesn't really matter as it's invariably used by people with more than 10 items.

[murphy]

On 15/06/2021 at 07:44, RumbleFox said:

I just find these threads a little superior and condescending that’s all. I know many people who struggle with reading and writing who often feel very bad about it and I think if one of them were to read this thread they might feel quite attacked or useless. I used to be a grammar Nazi at about 14 but grew out of it as all I could see in it was cruelness. 

I haven't visited this thread for a while but I'd like to address this post.  

 

I think you have missed the spirit of this thread.  It's a place where we can don our jackboots and pedant around to our heart's content without bothering the rest of the forum, but I think it is more than that.  Far from the back-slapping self-aggrandisement that you imagine, I think that we are here to mock ourselves and our affliction to an extent.  The word pedant is after all, something of a prejorative term.

 

I am a pedant.  When it comes to the written word, I have the mind of the kind of hi-viz wearing, clipboard wielding swine that lays his underpants out Monday to Friday, which is a bit odd because in many other aspects of life I am a slovenly sod.  Every car I have ever owned looks like a skip on the inside, but I digress.  It's not about self-importance, cruelty or belittling, it's a curse.  Imagine having your day ruined by a rogue apostrophe.  Well, I exaggerate but that's an insight into the mind of this particular pedant. 

 

It's also not about feeling superior.  I have met several people, far more capable or intelligent than I, that can't spell their way out of a paper bag.  The reason, I believe, is just a different type of mind.  Correct grammar and spelling is not important to them.  They have a cavalier, laissez-faire attitude.   That missing capital can go hang!  Meanwhile, I have a little librarian devil on my shoulder prodding and poking me at every grammatical faux pas.  So pity the pedant Rumble.  It is an affliction.

[HighPeakFox]

3 minutes ago, murphy said:

I haven't visited this thread for a while but I'd like to address this post.  

 

I think you have missed the spirit of this thread.  It's a place where we can don our jackboots and pedant around to our heart's content without bothering the rest of the forum, but I think it is more than that.  Far from the back-slapping self-aggrandisement that you imagine, I think that we are here to mock ourselves and our affliction to an extent.  The word pedant is after all, something of a prejorative term.

 

I am a pedant.  When it comes to the written word, I have the mind of the kind of hi-viz wearing, clipboard wielding swine that lays his underpants out Monday to Friday, which is a bit odd because in many other aspects of life I am a slovenly sod.  Every car I have ever owned looks like a skip on the inside, but I digress.  It's not about self-importance, cruelty or belittling, it's a curse.  Imagine having your day ruined by a rogue apostrophe.  Well, I exaggerate but that's an insight into the mind of this particular pedant. 

 

It's also not about feeling superior.  I have met several people, far more capable or intelligent than I, that can't spell their way out of a paper bag.  The reason, I believe, is just a different type of mind.  Correct grammar and spelling is not important to them.  They have a cavalier, laissez-faire attitude.   That missing capital can go hang!  Meanwhile, I have a little librarian devil on my shoulder prodding and poking me at every grammatical faux pas.  So pity the pedant Rumble.  It is an affliction.

Some pedants can't even spell 'pejorative' correctly Murphy...imagine that!

[murphy]

1 minute ago, HighPeakFox said:

Some pedants can't even spell 'pejorative' correctly Murphy...imagine that!

 

Oh the shame.

 

I shan't sleep tonight now.

[Phil Bowman]

12 hours ago, murphy said:

I don't know whether this one has been covered yet?  A common sight in supermarkets, but shouldn't that read ten items or fewer?  

 

 

Yes.

But also no.

I think.

 

If you’re counting the items individually then there need to be ten or fewer.

But if you’re taking the contents of the basket as a whole then it needs to be less than eleven items.

In a similar way something costs less than ten pounds, but I’d have fewer pounds than you. I’m not enough of a grammarian to explain it properly, but the contents of the basket kind of become aggregated and can function as a collective noun?

Anyway, I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as all that.

But the general use of less where it should be fewer is something that makes me sad, and I would be much happier if it happened fewer.

[Phil Bowman]

8 hours ago, murphy said:

 

Oh the shame.

 

I shan't sleep tonight now.

Kudos for the ‘shan’t’ btw. It’s dropping out of use; most people just use ‘won’t.’

[Buce]

9 hours ago, murphy said:

 

Oh the shame.

 

I shan't sleep tonight now.

 

It's a good job nobody chose to highlight your use of chomping at the bit in the Maddison thread else you'd be up all week...