BS: Affect and effect.

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Don Firth
Date: 06 Jun 04 - 09:10 PM

And, of course, there are the "word whiskers" in spoken English. At one time, "you know" often found its way into just about every sentence, maybe a couple of times per clause. Now it's "like." Often the two are intermingled, such as "like, you know." Thanks to the repeated use of "like" and "you know," there are people who can talk for hours and use only ten or a dozen different words. If a person doesn't have much to say, it helps a lot.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Amos
Date: 06 Jun 04 - 09:21 PM

I think there is a literal and legitimate distinction between saying "you have x" and "you have got x". The latter is certainly lessformal but I don't think it can be dismissed as improper entirely. After all there are plenty of parallel constructions such "You've bought a lemon". "you've found the missing link", and "you've loosed the cat among the pigeons".

Nigel:

Surely you mean precise. I don't believe there is any such word as precice.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: s&r
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 03:44 AM

"When you gotta go you gotta go" loses something as "When you have to go you have to go"

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: s&r
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 03:50 AM

When I was at school there were many words that we were discouraged from using. Instead, we had to find elegant variations. "Forbidden words were 'nice' 'thing' 'got' and any slang. There were others that have no doubt been expunged from my memory. 'Can' instead of'may' was a hanging crime.

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 06:28 AM

Well, now that we're on to *verbal* "offenses" ;-) ...

I hear more & more people refer to "__ a.m. in the morning". This seems to be a fairly recent thing (last 10 years or so?); I don't remember ever hearing it when I was a kid. These days, I even hear it from radio announcers. (Interestingly, I have yet to hear someone say "__ p.m. in the evening".)

Similarly, almost everyone refers to their "PIN number", which is redundant, since the N already stands for number. This one makes more sense to me, though, because referring to your "PI number" is more awkward/might not be understood; referring to your "PIN" also might be confusing to others, so I don't see this changing any time soon.

"I don't want any potatoes" means the same thing as "I don't want no potatoes." I don't care how much English ya know. When a 280 lb heavy weight world-class kick boxer says he don't want no potatoes, ya don't give him any. All that crap about two negatives equal a positive simply fly out the window. Trust me.

There's a story about a lecturer explaining to his English class that while a double-negative equals a positive, there are no incidences of a double-positive equalling a negative. At which point, from the back of the room, a sarcastic voice is heard saying "Yeah, yeah!"

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: JennyO
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 09:35 AM

Along with PIN numbers, there are ATM machines - automatic teller machine machines.

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Amos
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 10:54 AM

I hear more & more people refer to "__ a.m. in the morning".

This is just illiteracy at work, I'm sure.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: YorkshireYankee
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 12:37 PM

I dunno... my own mother says it (though I'm sure she didn't when I was young), and she's not illiterate. I don't think she even realises what she's saying...

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Amos
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 01:10 PM

Well, ask her if she can define "a.m", mate. No clues, mind you!

Actually you could theoretically argue that the set of minutes included in "ante meridien" includes both morning and forenoon. Therefore, it would be perfectly sensible to say "a.m. in the morning" when referring to the morning watch, but not for the forenoon watch.

Just a wild and hazardous guess!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 06:04 PM

Quite commonly I'll hear someone say something like "He's a Jewish rabbi."

My comment is, "Yes, and that's the very best kind!"

Along this line, I remember embarrassing myself at a party, when I heard two women discussing a statue that had "a stone male penis".

I said, "That's the very best kind!"

From the looks I got, I don't think they associated my comment with the tautology.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Amos
Date: 07 Jun 04 - 06:14 PM

Besides, Dave, that ain't necessarily true...ask the man who owns one! :>))

A

Subject: RE: BS: Affect and effect.
From: Peace
Date: 08 Jun 04 - 06:54 PM

'Can' instead of'may' was a hanging crime.

So, you had to ask if you might go to the may?