Jump to content
Larry Pestilence III

The English Language

Recommended Posts

On 10/08/2006 at 09:03, The Pooka said:

 

Nuff said? Not on this subject. There being no formal grammatical rules in English, much is determined by style, convention and whether a line sounds 'right' or elegant. Balancing these elements ensures that it is difficult to argue for a fixed view of what is good and bad form. So......

 

1. Its fine to start a sentence with 'And...'. It places additional emphasis upon what you have said in the previous sentence.

2. The same applies to the use of: 'however', 'nevertheless' and 'notwithstanding'. Starting a sentence with each allows a greater emphasis on the fact that what follows may contradict what went before.

3. As notapotato correctly asserts, 'none' is technically singular. So that message should read 'Not one of us is....'. However, there are many examples of this rule being ignored for the sake of convention and style. 'Not one of are..' just sounds wrong, whereas 'none of us is....' doesn't. Sources going back over half a century allow either usage and so I would take issue with the singular use being 'completely wrong'..

4. Similarly, 'more than one person have died' sounds wrong, though it is correct in strict grammatical terms. Nevertheless, (there's that emphasis again) 'more than one person has died' sounds correct, though grammatically wrong. Stylistically, it is the latter form that we tend to use because it sounds 'right'.

5. notapotato is right about commas.

6. The person who placed that trite message should certainly be lashed until he or she drops. But that has nothing to do with their grammar.

 

PS It is perfectly acceptable to use 'their' in the context of 6 above as, while grammatically wrong, it avoids the clumsy repetition of 'his or her'.

I've just had a look back on this thread.

I fucking LOVED The Pooka, the greatest of the great.

That is apart from Mary and CA, obviously.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I was thinking about what neologisms might arise from the covidian ashes.

 

This one has probably already been coined: lockstalgia, - when you're stuck on a sweltering tube to work in a year's time, fondly reminiscing about mornings on the couch watching  the half-witted politicians and doom-mongering scientists on Breakfast Time.

 

But how about one for the guilty twinges some of us currently inexplicably feel for actually kind of enjoying lockdown (notwithstanding the pain, suffering and plain old death of others of course). Schadendown or lockdownfreude don't quite cut the mustard, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy said:

I was thinking about what neologisms might arise from the covidian ashes.

 

This one has probably already been coined: lockstalgia, - when you're stuck on a sweltering tube to work in a year's time, fondly reminiscing about mornings on the couch watching  the half-witted politicians and doom-mongering scientists on Breakfast Time.

 

But how about one for the guilty twinges some of us currently inexplicably feel for actually kind of enjoying lockdown (notwithstanding the pain, suffering and plain old death of others of course). Schadendown or lockdownfreude don't quite cut the mustard, though.

There is a lot of potential in there. But I have just had six pints of cider and am carrying on I cannot help you. But huge potential. Yes. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Saw this on Twitter, it’s a list of 23 words for things people feel but have difficulty explaining. I only knew a couple of these, and most of the rest I’ve been searching for for years.

 

39CB316B-AEBB-438B-96A7-000592933678.thumb.jpeg.e64ebaa9ded28b6aacc548f59e254472.jpeg

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So far I've only inwardly cringed at "I'll inbox you" and "Inbox me", but I've just seen "I've sent you an inbox".  :facepalm:

People, the word you are looking for is message.

:banghead:

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 minute ago, Toast said:

So far I've only inwardly cringed at "I'll inbox you" and "Inbox me", but I've just seen "I've sent you an inbox".  :facepalm:

People, the word you are looking for is message.

:banghead:

 

Yes.
 

To ‘inbox’ someone is to make an appearance in their inbox, so, personally, I think that’s acceptable.
 

To ‘send an inbox’, though, would be to send an entire collection of messages from various people, so it’s both stupid-sounding and incorrect. You hear it a lot, and it grinds the fuck out of my gears, too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 minutes ago, The Quim Reaper said:

 

Yes.
 

To ‘inbox’ someone is to make an appearance in their inbox, so, personally, I think that’s acceptable.
 

To ‘send an inbox’, though, would be to send an entire collection of messages from various people, so it’s both stupid-sounding and incorrect. You hear it a lot, and it grinds the fuck out of my gears, too.

More than happy for most people to appear in my inbox. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, Lard Bazaar said:

More than happy for most people to appear in my inbox. 

 

Isn't that a bit of a rash statement, Lardy? :scratchhead:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, Toast said:

 

Isn't that a bit of a rash statement, Lardy? :scratchhead:

Rash being the operative word :D

  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
9 minutes ago, Lard Bazaar said:

Rash being the operative word :D

 

I'll line them up, you knock 'em in :D

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To ‘isolate’ is, by definition, to be by yourself.

 

To ‘self-quarantine’ is to keep yourself shielded from society.

 

To ‘self-isolate’ is what stupid fuckers say because they fail to recognise that definition no.1 clearly makes the ‘self-‘ redundant.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
41 minutes ago, The Quim Reaper said:

To ‘isolate’ is, by definition, to be by yourself.

To ‘self-quarantine’ is to keep yourself shielded from society.

To ‘self-isolate’ is what stupid fuckers say because they fail to recognise that definition no.1 clearly makes the ‘self-‘ redundant.

 

That's an interesting one, because I thought 'isolate' was a transitive verb, and that people have been using it as a reflexive verb by adding "self".

But the OED has picked this up and drafted it as an intransitive verb.

 

image.png.600feec9b01be4a694a3bdbbb0a5d5d3.png

 

As for "self-isolate", they've got it already:

 

image.png.7ddfce71ad1f70fd09253cdf247191a4.png

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
43 minutes ago, Toast said:

 

image.png.7ddfce71ad1f70fd09253cdf247191a4.png


Interesting.

 

My god though, this goes even further...”self-isolate themselves”? That’s wound me up fucking royally. 

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Love the OED.  It's so thorough, and so interesting to see the recorded uses of words and phrases, and how far back some go.

Fortunately my library subscribes to the OED and gives me access to it at home.  I can just log in with my library number. :D

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
27 minutes ago, harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy said:

The one that annoys me most, I think, is the your/you're mistake. Jealousy/envy confusion gets my goat too.

 

I should whinge on this thread more often.

 

If your bothered about that you need you're head examined. :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, harrymcnallysblueandwhitearmy said:

The one that annoys me most, I think, is the your/you're mistake. Jealousy/envy confusion gets my goat too.

 

I should whinge on this thread more often.

My biggest bugbear (and I have a few) is the "could of/should of/would of" usage. I internally scream every time I see it.

 

I have quite possibly mentioned it before.

  • Like 2

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And the there/their/they're muddles.

Predictive texting and basic spellcheck functions have had a hand in making all this worse.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've just seen the phrase "pre-booked appointment" and I'm internally screaming again.

  • Facepalm 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
32 minutes ago, time said:

I've just seen the phrase "pre-booked appointment" and I'm internally screaming again.


Do you have to pre-book the ability to book?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, The Quim Reaper said:


Do you have to pre-book the ability to book?

AAAAgh <more internal screaming>

  • Haha 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Reading about the Hawk crash on the BBC website, found the following. To my  mind, that means exactly the opposite of what they intend it to mean.

Screenshot 2021-03-25 140354.jpg

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm not happy with the way "cancelled" is being used these days.  If something is cancelled, it means it will not take place - it never happened. Never existed.

 

People talk about a TV series being "cancelled" when what they mean is that it won't be continued.  You could say it has been "dropped", but for some inexplicable reason the term "dropped" has been appropriated to mean broadcast, aired,  or made available for the first time.

 

As for the other new meaning of "cancelled", pretending or wishing that something never happened or existed, there are several perfectly good words for that, eg erased, expunged, deleted etc.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

×

Important Information

Your use of this forum is subject to our Terms of Use