Peter Christy Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Don't forget "management speak", either! I used to work in a place where memos about "leveraging extensible platforms" for the purpose of "utilizing turn-key systems" were all part of "aggregating e-business functionalities"! We were constantly being exhorted to "harness vertical paradigms" in order that we might "engage virtual functionalities", as well as "iterate frictionless portals" - not to mention "recontextualize distributed applications". Gus Hedges would have been proud! -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 The misuse of "then" where "than" is required is an Americanism which is creeping in over here in the UK. I assumed it was because spoken in an American accent they can't tell the difference, so why here as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrman Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 What about "could of" instead of "could have" ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gliggsy Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I could of told most of you that this would happen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason-I Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by Nigel R on 13/03/2020 09:14:47: These days I find 200% is a better target to aim at, 110% is a bit last century. As I work an agile process, we are always sprinting. I note few people ever seem to point out the impossibility of "always sprinting". Apparently, the more realistic "cruising at a sustainable pace" is not a sufficiently motivating expression. Careful, you're in danger of thinking outside the box with that bleeding edge corporate synergy...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinBrian Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 A couple that irritate me.... "Little baby" - are they all not little? "Return back", - surely return on its own is adequate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudsy Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 At this point in time,=now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Collinson Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Not been funny or anything, but basically, when all's said and done. at the end of the day, taking one side with the other, there's evolution of the language and simple gross abuse, know what I mean? Friends and Neighbours speak, OMG, like so totally, rising interrogative et al; if the yoof is gonna get its culture off a da tv an da texting, what on earth did we think was going to happen? Schools blame parents, who permit adolescents to learn communication skills from anti-social media sites populated by insecure narcissists (on reflection) and it's easier to stick an i-Thing in front of a child than to read it a bedtime story. Res ipsa loquitur. BTC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Robson Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by john stones 1 on 12/03/2020 21:48:51: Not read Chaucer, nor Shakespeare, read Izaac Waltons The Compleat Angler, tough going. So what you read ? Stephen Ericksons my favourite just now. **LINK** Shikspeare wuz a brummie yu now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Not that bothered by someone grammar myself, just find some of the new phrases irritating, is it these Influencers wots doing it ? 3rd book due out by Hilary Mantel in her Cromwell Trilogy, there's a lady who's good with words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Davis Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 My beef is with the BBC pronunciation of kiLOmetres. We don't talk of centImetresor millImetres, it's kilometres! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airhead Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 David Davis, There are many examples like your kiLOmetres. COMpact discs for instance, are American… in England we should have comPACT (meaning small) discs. It’s called putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle. Among many other expressions that grate and/or mean nothing, at work there is a common expression (generally among managers); “Going forward…” Well, time being what it is, we can’t go back – unless Doctor Who is real. I believe the expression should be, “In future…” My teeth also grind when I’m requested to send or forward something “to myself” Aargh… have these people never heard of the word “me”? Only I can send something to myself. YOU can’t send something to myself, only to ME! How many people don’t know the difference between “too” and “to”? I remember in one no-longer-with-us modelling magazine an article titled, “How Too Land” with the heading emblazoned in inch - or two - tall letters across the page. You may be surprised to know that the article was written by the editor, no less. You’d think an editor of a national magazine would know the difference between “to” and “too” wouldn’t you? – I think I knew the difference before I started school! Americans are an easy target when it comes to expressions – so let’s have a go… Have you noticed that they often get a noun, turn it into an adjective and then convert it back to another (incorrect) noun? The example I often quote is a guy on TV describing one of his fellow soldiers and relating that the chap exhibited “great courageousness”! Eh? Whut? You had a noun – ‘courage’, made an adjective from it – ‘courageous’ – no probs… but then, if you need your noun again, it’s still there. You don’t have to create a new one! I’ve heard many of these re-nouns, “skilfulness” instead of “skill” and many others. Insidiously, these will creep into the wider world if we’re not vigilant. Keep a lookout for this sort of thing, you’ll soon spot plenty of examples and soon after you’ll find yourself yelling at the telly. Like I do. I'm running out of space so I'll finish this rant in another post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airhead Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Our transatlantic cousins are, also (I believe) the origin of ‘verbing nouns’ (itself a case of verbing, – where a noun is used as a verb), the classic example being “access”. You cannot “access” something. You can grant or gain access to something but “access” is a noun, not a verb. (To make it clearer,“access” means “admission”. You cannot admission something, but you CAN grant admission or gain admission.) You may have noticed that I’ve invented a new noun; the word “re-noun”. Well, it doesn’t stop there. I’ve verbed it too… “Re-nouning” is the new black! How about the ubiquitous use of “laying” instead of “lying”. You don’t have stuff laying around, you have it lying around. Don’t tell your dog to “lay down”, tell it to “lie down”. Yesterday it lay down but today it lies down or is lying down. You can lay the table or lay your gun on the ground. If you’re a chicken you can lay an egg, but once that process is finished the egg is lying in the straw, not laying there. FlyinBrian, in defence of people who use the expression “little baby” (you say, “are they all not little” by which I guess you mean, “are they not all little?" well, babies DO come in various sizes and I’m sure you have at some stage called someone – or been called – “a big baby”. “Big babies” is an accusation that will probably be levelled at those of us in this thread by those who don’t care about the English language. Punctuation is a bone of contention. Legal papers are written without any because the insertion or omission of a comma for instance can change the entire meaning of a sentence. For instance, the book title mentioned above, “Have you eaten Grandma?” has a completely different meaning to “Have you eaten, Grandma?” People, even English teachers, say that punctuation, spelling and grammar don’t matter so long as the writer is understood, but isn’t it easier to correctly understand someone who punctuates and spells correctly and who uses correct grammar? Oh... And while I’m about it, the expression is not, “Each to his own”…, it should be, “To each, his own”. “Each to his own” just doesn’t make any sense. I’d better stop now or I’ll be here all night… Edited By Airhead on 13/03/2020 16:57:26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Nope shan't be calling you a big baby, because you care about the English language. Shan't be calling others who don't fly as well as some, nor those who didn't go to Uni thick. Shan't be calling those who build less well than others, etc etc. Can the egg be lying on the straw ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by john stones 1 on 13/03/2020 17:03:49: Can the egg be lying on the straw ? I can't see any reason why not. The chicken is an unusual case in that it can both be lying or laying on the straw, but not at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by Martin Harris on 13/03/2020 18:45:31: Posted by john stones 1 on 13/03/2020 17:03:49: Can the egg be lying on the straw ? I can't see any reason why not. The chicken is an unusual case in that it can both be lying or laying on the straw, but not at the same time. Not as unusual as you might think. There was a Goose that layed/laid, gave us an egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 I doubt that it was lying down whilst it was laying that egg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Geezer Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 AND then there is the case of a Gunner who lays his artillery piece ( gun! ) on a target. 🙄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Geezer Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Or should that be 'onto'? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by Old Geezer on 13/03/2020 19:09:17: Or should that be 'onto'? Nope (Gun) was correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin b Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 This is the sort of discussion we had in the lessons at school when we didn't want to do any work (most of the time). Just bear in mind the fact that the Italians don't speak Latin any more. Everything changes over time. C'est la vie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Did Italians ever speak Latin ? Was used for a long time to keep certain things to certain people, I believe. Didn't we have a King wassisname bring out a famous book in English ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by john stones 1 on 13/03/2020 19:33:35: Did Italians ever speak Latin ? Was used for a long time to keep certain things to certain people, I believe. Didn't we have a King wassisname bring out a famous book in English ? He also brought out a Bible. Was used for a long time to keep certain things to certain people, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 Posted by Gary Manuel on 13/03/2020 19:37:04: Posted by john stones 1 on 13/03/2020 19:33:35: Did Italians ever speak Latin ? Was used for a long time to keep certain things to certain people, I believe. Didn't we have a King wassisname bring out a famous book in English ? He also brought out a Bible. Was used for a long time to keep certain things to certain people, I believe. He did, but that action gave the commoners easier means to produce said book I reffered to, choice to read/believe rests with yourself, cheers Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.