BS: Language Pet Peeves

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 12:24 PM

Errrrmmm…Language Pet Peeves????

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 10 Oct 23 - 02:21 PM

…or should that be ‘ætheism’, Mrrzy? ;-) :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Oct 23 - 04:36 PM

“…and don’t forget well-known…”

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Oct 23 - 04:20 PM

…and don’t well-known British TV and radio presenters talking about ‘Eye-bee-fah’

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 02 Oct 23 - 04:23 AM

Mine too, Doug.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 30 Sep 23 - 10:38 AM

”Lady Gaga won a Brit in 2010 for best international female artist, not artiste, chanteuse, or songstress.”

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 30 Sep 23 - 09:25 AM

Nice one, Manitas!

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 25 Sep 23 - 01:22 AM

“A tad bit”. Aaaarrgghh!

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 08:14 AM

My wife’s opinion is that ‘the wife’ relegates her to the same category as ‘the car’, or ‘the fridge’ - i.e. to that of being simply a possession - whereas ‘my wife’, as Doug quite correctly pointed out, indicates a close relationship.

I agree with her.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 07:36 AM

Mrs Backwoodsperson prefers ‘my wife’ to any of the other appellations suggested above, and she refers to me as ‘my husband’. Nowt wrong with either of those.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 07:22 AM

Spot-on, Doug.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 08 Sep 23 - 02:43 AM

”The choice is between "restaurateur" (the correct French form) and "restauranter" (a regular English form). Both are awkward; usage has chosen the first.”

Except that it hasn’t. ‘Usage’ has chosen ‘restauranteur’, which is neither the correct French form nor a regular English form - it’s a bastardisation of both.

It’s true that language evolves, and I’m certainly not agin that, but this one drives me nuts, pure laziness. And don’t get me started on the current BBC pronunciation fad of pronouncing ‘st’ as though there’s an ‘h’ in there - ‘shtreet’, ‘shtudent’ etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 07 Sep 23 - 04:35 AM

Heard these two chestnuts on TV recently - BBC TV in fact! Shameful!

“Pronounciation”. Aaaargh! It’s “Pronunciation”!

“Restauranteur”. Sod that, it’s “Restaurateur “!

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Geoff Wallis
Date: 20 Sep 23 - 06:36 AM

'I liked Cloughie... '

That'll be Mr. Clough to you, young man.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Paul Burke
Date: 17 Oct 23 - 06:17 AM

"From an evolutionary perspective, faith *preceded* intelligence."

Hmm, citation needed. Maybe you mean "developmental point of view". Or maybe faith in the soft sense, as distinct from Faith.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: PHJim
Date: 16 Oct 23 - 03:59 AM

I could care less.
Do you want to come with?
I blame John Dean for this during the Watergate hearings. "At this point..." or "At this time..." not "At this point in time..."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 20 Oct 23 - 01:30 AM

I've no objection to Americans calling a full stop a period. It's when the word is used as a bullying "And that's what I think, and that's right, so shut up" ending to a statement it makes me laugh. Period.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 19 Oct 23 - 01:57 PM

It's always a bit embarrassing on this side of the Atlantic (where we say "full stop" for the "." at the end of a sentence) when Americans make a strong declarative statement, and end it by saying "Period". Should we be offering Tampax?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 19 Oct 23 - 02:58 AM

I'm currently flinching every day by the misuse of the word 'after':

Woman Killed After Collision

Is there a serial killer going around killing helpless car crash victims?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 04:08 PM

Oh dear. Even this thread had been captured.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Oct 23 - 09:41 PM

Came across a use of "than" when "as" would be correct. It's in The Atlantic:

The cultivated apple-tree was first introduced into this country by the earliest settlers, and it is thought to do as well or better here than anywhere else.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 22 Sep 23 - 02:42 AM

In Ireland it's common enough for husbands to refer to wives, and wives to husbands, as "the boss" - eg, "What, you want me to keep that stray puppy? I'll have to check with the boss."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Sep 23 - 09:18 AM

You're only relatable if you're leaning in.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 17 Sep 23 - 04:14 AM

I heard one of our dimmer ministers using "personable" when she meant "personal" the other day. Oh, God.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 12 Sep 23 - 07:12 AM

That's linguistic leakage, G-Force; another of these is "sewerage" (ie piping and other infrastructure used in the disposal of waste) being used when "sewage" is meant. I think it's a kind of ladylikeness, a fancier-sounding word making one seem (one might wrongly think) more educated.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 11 Sep 23 - 02:07 PM

Bigly, while rare, is a real word.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 10 Sep 23 - 01:52 PM

I'll have to wait till I hear the horror the next time, Doug. Basically, it's when people use a longish statement with a comparison that would normally use "as" in the second half of the phrase, but instead they say "than". Keep your ear open and you'll hear it.

Lighter, what about "purposefully" used incorrectly to mean purposely. Different words, different meanings, innit?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Thompson
Date: 09 Sep 23 - 03:41 PM

I don't know if anyone's yet brought up the way "than" is increasingly, senselessly, being used in place of "as"?
Then there's pronunciation: I heard Gerry Adams referring to "the half-penny bridge" in Dublin. No one previously has ever pronounced it other than ha'penny (haypenny). Assassin of language!

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: leeneia
Date: 12 Oct 23 - 12:26 PM

Here's a peeve of mine: categorically, as in "I categorically deny that I broke the windows."

What is it supposed to mean? I believe the speaker wants to convey "emphatically" or "without a doubt," because how do categories enter into it?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Rain Dog
Date: 08 Sep 23 - 02:41 PM

Things change. You don't. A sign of the times.

I still don't like the widespread misuse of decimate. That is just me.
Others are happy enough to use it as they so wish. It does not upset me.

Anyway, I am all set to watch the rugby. Enjoy your night.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Rain Dog
Date: 08 Sep 23 - 03:23 AM

"Some rugby bloke on the wireless this morning rattled on about the perils of "lacksadaisical" preparations for games. I've heard that so many times. Dammit, man, it's "lackadaisical""

Whoever coined the word was just too lazy to include the required extra s.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Oct 23 - 05:53 PM

Here's a typical one from my files, from 2009:

"We can't be lulled into the fact that all the Al-Qaeda people are flubs....They are expert bombers."

From 1968:

"We're banking on the fact that Dr. Halvorsen's [crackpot] theory [that we don't believe] is correct."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 19 Oct 23 - 07:57 AM

Have I mentioned "fact" for "notion, claim, or idea"?

I've been hearing it almost daily for decades: "What about the fact that...?" "As for the fact that...."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 17 Oct 23 - 07:45 AM

Human intelligence is based on language.

You can't have conscious, reflective "faith" or "belief" without language.

Therefore both faith and intelligence "evolved" at about the same time. So did inductive logic. ("If such-and-such is true, so-and-so should be true too.")

Deductive logic, however, took millennia.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 05:27 PM

No "No, Steve," Steve. Obviously, I would have thought!

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 04:26 PM

Captured by what? Pejoration of "moderate" is a linguistic development explicable by politics.

Traditionally the word has had neutral or positive connotations.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 01:07 PM

No, Steve, for the extreme populists of the Republican party (now about 90% of it) "moderation" in the pursuit of their version of liberty is, to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, "no virtue."

Moderates, in that view, are just fast-talking cowards.

Bonus peeve: "cowardly" being used as the preferred synonym for "treacherous" (no matter how daring) and "coward" for "miscreant" or "monster (ditto).

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 11 Oct 23 - 07:38 AM

If you have no principles, avoid moderation:


https://tinyurl.com/36b5kev8

"Republican state Rep. Craig Williams has been trying to build internal party support for an undeclared 2024 bid for Pennsylvania attorney general, but he got some unwelcome news when a powerful national party group [the Republican Attorney Generals Association] trashed him as dishonest and 'very moderate, unprincipled and opportunistic.'"

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Oct 23 - 01:27 PM

Around here they're pronounced the same. Same word, alternative spellings.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 06 Oct 23 - 08:01 AM

Merriam-Webster:

"[T]here are some cases in which one tends to be used more often than the other. Some people feel that 'advisor' is more formal, and it tends to be found more often when applied to official positions, such as an advisor to a president. When referring to someone who is serving in a military role, especially when using the term as a euphemism (as when claiming that troops are actually military 'advisers'), then 'adviser' is somewhat more common."

Makes sense. Not.

In my brain, an "adviser" simply advises, but an "advisor" occupies a paid position to do so.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 02 Oct 23 - 01:31 PM

There was a cartoon a few years ago in the "New Yorker" that showed a hip young couple passing a storefront advertising "Artisinal Kick in the Butt! Really Painful! Ruins Your Day!"

The young woman says, "Ooooh! Artisinal!"

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 29 Sep 23 - 03:07 PM

Masculine "widows" *are* a thing now.

Have heard this several times over the last few years.

It's like replacing "actress" with "actor." It supposedly helps in degenderfying life.

If that's your bag.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 22 Sep 23 - 03:06 PM

The original "She-who-must-be-obeyed" (thus punctuated) was the Queen Ayesha in H. Rider Haggard's "She: A History of Adventure" (1887).

The 1965 movie starred Ursula Andress as "She."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 20 Sep 23 - 10:21 AM

"My better half" is the U.S. form and is usually complimentary.

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 10 Sep 23 - 06:10 PM

More, Thompson, than you probably wish to know:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/purposely-purposefully-usage

Most interesting to me is the notion that many people don't think "purposely" is a "real word."

And here's my pet meta-peeve. Nearly everybody seems to think Trump used to say "bigly." In fact, what he was saying was "big-league." But you have to listen close.

He seems to have given up the habit, however, just like he gave up his previous trademark "huge."

(Gotta stay fresh.)

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Lighter
Date: 10 Sep 23 - 01:22 PM

Has anyone mentioned "on accident," which I've heard a number of times recently, as though it's the latest thing?

(What the sudden frequency means is that it's been building under the radar for decades.)

It's the precise opposite of "on purpose" and a replacement for "by accident."

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 07 Oct 23 - 01:06 PM

Advise and advise, practice and practise

What is the difference between 'advise' and 'advise'?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: HuwG
Date: 19 Sep 23 - 07:50 PM

"My wife" as opposed to "the wife"; does the usage of "the wife" imply that one is treating the seventh commandment lightly?

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 10 Oct 23 - 07:32 PM

.... simple refusal to think about it all.

To my mind, the most appropriate response to "Do you believe in God?" would be "Does it matter?". No matter how strong a mere mortal's belief may be, either for or against, it would have no bearing on the existence or non-existence of a supernatural being.

I don't know if it's a real word, but I describe myself as an apothet - it makes no difference one way or the other. I try to live my life as a polite, caring, socially aware and responsible citizen, not because I fear eternal damnation, but because it's the way I choose to live.

DC

Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 02 Oct 23 - 04:15 AM

To my hearing, "as" has not been replaced by "than". It is simply missing. The correct form should be:

.... as well as or better than ....


DC