OT: Pet Peeve

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Grazie wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:00 AM

Kelly? I 'ave An Uncle - and he IS odd!!!

Graze



AlanC wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:10 AM
According to my observations, we have just overtaken (or should that be overtook) the "Special Effects" thread!

Or should that be Special Affects? :~)

Alan
Ayath The Loafer wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:20 AM
My special pet peeve is the use of "sophisticated".

It is - of course - easy to understand the misuse when one looks up in different dictionaries.

Oxford Dictionary

sophisticated

• adjective 1 (of a machine, system, or technique) highly developed and complex. 2 having or showing worldly experience and taste in matters of culture or fashion. 3 appealing to sophisticated people.


Merrian-Webster

Main Entry: 1so·phis·ti·cate
Pronunciation: s&-'fis-t&-"kAt
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -cat·ed; -cat·ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin sophisticatus, past participle of sophisticare, from Latin sophisticus sophistic, from Greek sophistikos, from sophistEs sophist
1 : to alter deceptively; especially : ADULTERATE
2 : to deprive of genuineness, naturalness, or simplicity; especially : to deprive of naïveté and make worldly-wise : DISILLUSION
3 : to make complicated or complex

And since I'm Danish I, along with the entire population of The United States of America, reserve the right to NOT speak a correct English.

Ayath
John_Cline wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:29 AM
OK, I have another one...

People that use "walla" when they actually mean "voila." (vwä-lä)

Websters definition: "The term used to call attention, to express satisfaction or approval, or to suggest an appearance as if by magic."

John

Also, what's another word for "thesaurus" and why is "abbreviation" such a long word?



Bob Greaves wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:29 AM
Queue ...
is a five letter word pronounced the same way as its first letter.

Grammarians and linguists are two different animals. Grammarians believe in rules but linguists believe in symbolic significance. One is orderly the other is effective. Being effective often slaughters the orderliness of the past, keeping the rules inhibits the fore-grounding of uniqueness.
busterkeaton wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:30 AM
Alan, I have always liked that about cleave.

Here's one. The word facetious shares a trait with very few other words in the English language. What is it?
busterkeaton wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:49 AM
If you are into this subject, you may want to check out the documentary, Word Wars which is about the championship Scrabble circuit. Very good and very funny. It's based on the book, Word Freak, which I haven't read, but know people who have and say it's great.

One interesting bit is when the British champion comes to the US to play a tournament. He is considered the best in the world, but he is a bit hindered by the fact, that the US and the UK use different Scrabble dictionaries.
Chienworks wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:49 AM
Facetious has all five vowels, once only, and in alphabetical order.

Anagrams are a lot of fun too.
AlanC wrote on 2/22/2006, 8:58 AM
Kelly,

Glad you stepped in there. I was wracking my brains trying to work that one out.

I.
O.
U.
one :~)
Grazie wrote on 2/22/2006, 9:09 AM


How come, in the UK, there is only ONE "Monoplies And Mergers Commission" ?

Grazie
AlanC wrote on 2/22/2006, 9:14 AM
My pet peeve is people who spell Monopolies as "Monoplies".

Question:
"How come, in the UK, there is only ONE "Monoplies And Mergers Commission" ?"

Answer:
because they monopolised it

Alan
Grazie wrote on 2/22/2006, 9:21 AM
Alan - Like wot is 'ere?

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/m/monoplies_and_mergers_commission.asp

Typical Kartoonists!!

And yes "Monopolies" . . go see the "bad spilling"

Grazie
corug7 wrote on 2/22/2006, 9:28 AM
AlanC: I'm thinking of a pair of English words that have nearly opposite meanings and are spelled differently, but sound exactly the same.

Any thoughts?
Coursedesign wrote on 2/22/2006, 10:23 AM
Oh, ye seekers of pleasure in these fora, that makes ye "foragers."

Some of us poor sods here have to work for living, sometimes around the clock, and we have no time for these frisky frivolities.

For us, checks and balances are more important.

To be specific, my lack of sleep is compensated for by the volume of large checks coming in, and the effect of those on my bank balances!

"Sleep is for the dead."

Grammarians and linguists are two different animals. Grammarians believe in rules but linguists believe in symbolic significance. One is orderly the other is effective. Being effective often slaughters the orderliness of the past, keeping the rules inhibits the fore-grounding of uniqueness.

The science of grammar was invented in India before 500 BC, appearing in our part of the world in the late 19th century.

The most prominent grammarian of the early era, Panini, wrote in the foreword to his Grammar of the Sanskrit Language:

We study grammar so that the language may open itself up to us,

Makes me think he had no problem with student enrollment :O).

His grammar was also suited for those in the computer field, as this quote from a Wikipedia article shows:

Pāṇini's grammar of Sanskrit is highly systematised and technical.

Now back to work (and checks and balances).

:O)

AlanC wrote on 2/22/2006, 11:51 AM
corug7

I've been thinking about it on my way home from the office and I'm stuck!

I know I'll kick myself when you enlighten me.

Alan
Chienworks wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:02 PM
Raise & raze.
MarkWWW wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:02 PM
That's another of the many differences between the American flavor of English and the British flavour. To us over here (I'm in the UK) two thousand six sounds very weird and wrong - we would always say two thousand and six.

The linguistic thing that annoys me most is the habit that seems to be starting to take hold of dropping the "ed" from a past participle - I got an email today asking me to "make sure all components of this order are thoroughly check before they are dispatch".

Mark
B.Verlik wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:16 PM
Another pet peeve. I was always taught, that you stand IN line. But I keep hearing TV annnouncers saying the phrase "Standing ON line". Did somebody change the rules and forget to tell anybody? Or are our announcers just ignorant?
AlanC wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:16 PM
Kelly, good guess. Not the one I was thinking of.

Mark, I never heard that.
GenJerDan wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:19 PM
And "avuncular" isn't odd? ;)

Don't know why I thought of that particular word.

(And if I could think of a way to work molecular into a sentence, I would.)
Ecquillii wrote on 2/22/2006, 12:36 PM
The Twelve Rules of Language (for those who need rules)
Or, Deep Thoughts Triggered by Jay’s Then and Than

1) Language is always in flux. Or, An unchanging language is a dead language. Init?
2) Into the same language one cannot step twice. And however you step, you’ll always get your feet wet.
3) There is no right or wrong in language beyond what one person or group would want to impose on—or imitate in—another. Exception: The Queen’s English.
4) An invitation to use language in a common way to facilitate understanding should never be mistaken for an obligation. Unless the person talking has more prestige, power or money than you do. Similarly, Pet peeves are the prerogative of those who can afford to feed them, and only for as long as they remember that it is also their duty (that is, an obligation not an invitation) to empty the litter box. Also, No peeving in the snow.
5) Agreement in meaning or pronunciation or spelling is always temporary. Wishing it were otherwise is the humbug of the annually-retentive.
6) Standardization in language is good as long as it is just one other way of doing things.
7) Language is funny. And should be. Ought! ought to make you laugh out loud.
8) Language is contextual. As are clothes. Is swearing aloud allowed at nudist camps? Could it be mistaken for a command?
9) Style Manuals should be renamed “While Manuals”, as in “While you work at this newspaper”, or “While you write on this academic discipline”, or “While you while away your days in this area of the world at this point in time.” If you are going to have a style, make it your own.
10) Ambiguity and uncertainty in language are the tools of mature thought. Or at least, I think they are.
11) Learn the rules and then break them. If you don’t, they’ll become prisons. But if you do, prisms.
12) Practice the use of language and like the best of artists make all the mistakes you can. Let the brush strokes of your practice be honesty, awareness, compassion and creativity. And than or then or thin or thon or thun or sometimes thyn what ever mistake you make, your canvas will come fully alive. Or not. As the case may be. See rule ten.
13) Just kidding around! (That would be “childing”, I guess, for those of you who in this context would reject the colloquial diminutive. Certainly, I am not trying to get anyone’s goat. And for those who reject prepositional endings, “around” in this context, or so I would hope you could agree, is an adverb.) There really are only twelve rules.

Tim Robertson
(who grew up in a family where “wash” was pronounced “warsh”. So now you know.)

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corug7 wrote on 2/22/2006, 1:32 PM
Good on ya, Kelly.

There's some not quite proper English for you.
winrockpost wrote on 2/22/2006, 2:06 PM
I say take the t out of often,,, drives me nuts

Short drive I know.
busterkeaton wrote on 2/22/2006, 2:14 PM
Came across this current use of [sic] today. You can find it on the White House's website.

"I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British [sic] company.