I don’t understand this universe any more

[stevehnz]

11 minutes ago, Retired Bob said:

Only those from North of the Wall, wearing kilts.  It's to do with the cold you see. 🙄

Twas that North to which I referred, the land if my forefathers, shivering runs in the family.

Steve.

[Selwyn]

My pet hate is the US usage of the term "THRU" in test procedures. ("Operate the switch from position 1 thru 8").

Had hours of fun with this when carrying out this instruction  with an American, I turned the switch to position 9.

Thats wrong! It says Operate the switch from position 1 thru 8!

I did.  I went "thru" 8 which takes me to 9.

Puzzled look.

Look When I walked "thru"  that  door at what point did  you see me stop?

You didn't.

So,  I wasn't instructed to stop at 8, I went "thru" it to 9!

 

Selwyn

[Whofan]

On 16/11/2021 at 13:18, Heather Kay said:

I’m happy that language changes and evolves. It is what a vibrant language will do. But, here’s some more that are beginning to bother me.

 

If I say to you "Have you got the <insert thing> with you?" The correct response is "I have". I am beginning to hear, much more often, "Yes, I do." I suspect it’s an inevitable import from across the Atlantic.

 

Another is the verb "to fit". The past tense, "fitted", seems be dead or dying. "It was a bit tight, but after a bit of fettling it fit".

 

I have to remember I’m getting old, and perhaps a bit stuck in my ways.

 

 

 

Heather there is no excuse for mangling a language in order to be "modern".

 

Two examples of mangling that annoy me are the misuse of the word impact - things have an impact, not are impacted, and we lose things, not loose them.

 

And lately I find at the inability to know when to use fewer or less.

 

I'm with you on this, but probably quite a bit older!!

Edited November 17, 2021 by Whofan

[Heather Kay]

26 minutes ago, Whofan said:

things have an impact, not are impacted

Ah, yes. I’m always yelling "you mean AFFECT!" at the news when they use impact erroneously.

[Bullbasket]

4 hours ago, Learstang said:

How about 'should of' instead of 'should have'?

I would think that that came about because of the way it was said; ie should've, and over time it's been turned into "should of".

 

John.

[Retired Bob]

47 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

Twas that North to which I referred, the land if my forefathers, shivering runs in the family.

Sorry Steve, Twas that North is a different country in these days of Scotland wanting independence.  I, as a middle to northern Englishman, have a bath or go to Bath not have a barth or go to Barth.

Please don't roll any r's in my direction.  

[Rob G]

Using "store" when "shop" is the word that's required. One's a place to keep things, t'other's a place to buy things.

 

There's others. But like so many here, I'm old and have become a grumpy pedant. 

[Retired Bob]

12 minutes ago, Rob G said:

There's others. But like so many here, I'm old and have become a grumpy pedant. 

As Sir Terry Wogan used to say "you're leaning against an open door there"

[PhoenixII]

2 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Apparently it gives the speaker time to formulate an answer, so, why do people, usually from down south, put a 'r' in bath, especially when they mention the place Bath, calling it Barth?  

Wondering why they have to formulate anything as they read from the 'idiot board'.........

 

'idiot board', also known as the teleprompter / autocue.

[Whofan]

49 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

Ah, yes. I’m always yelling "you mean AFFECT!" at the news when they use impact erroneously.

Ah, yes, I'm totes*  with you on that one.

 

 

* a soupçon of irony, there.

[Retired Bob]

5 minutes ago, PhoenixII said:

Wondering why they have to formulate anything as they read from the 'idiot board'.........

This was a reason given on the Radio 2, Jeremy Whine, sorry, Vine show, why people start every sentence with 'so'  Some of them do not use a teleprompter as they probably cannot read.   

[Bandsaw Steve]

Here In Australia the language morons who want to change things for no reason have been attacking the word ‘The’, thereby achieving the following:

 

’The Navy’ is now ‘Navy’

’The Air Force’ is now ‘Air Force’

’The Army’ is now ‘Army’

’The Department of Defence’ is now ‘Defence’

’The Department of Transport’ is now ‘Transport’

 

In my view this is ugly and distracting and wrong and weakens communications not strengthens them. I wonder how much the government paid some consultant for this absurd advice / change. 😖

[PhoenixII]

38 minutes ago, Bandsaw Steve said:

Here In Australia the language morons who want to change things for no reason have been attacking the word ‘The’, thereby achieving the following:

 

’The Navy’ is now ‘Navy’

’The Air Force’ is now ‘Air Force’

’The Army’ is now ‘Army’

’The Department of Defence’ is now ‘Defence’

’The Department of Transport’ is now ‘Transport’

 

In my view this is ugly and distracting and wrong and weakens communications not strengthens them. I wonder how much the government paid some consultant for this absurd advice / change. 😖

 

Slightly incorrect Steve, it should be:

’The Navy’ is now called Royal Australian Navy

’The Air Force’ is now called Royal Australian Air Force

’The Army’ is now Australian Army.

With regard to DoD, I think War Department sound a little better....

As for DoT, why not call it DoT?

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

6 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

I don't 'reach out' to people unless I'm drowning; I contact them.

 

 

God yes! 👍
I hate ‘Reach out’ in its modern usage. It’s probably my number one modern language dislike. I find it somehow creepy. 🧟‍♂️
If someone’s going to ‘reach out’ for me then they are probably going to touch me without my permission and they’d better be ready for a smack in the chops. 

[Bandsaw Steve]

10 minutes ago, PhoenixII said:

 

Slightly incorrect Steve, it should be:

’The Navy’ is now called Royal Australian Navy

’The Air Force’ is now called Royal Australian Air Force

’The Army’ is now Australian Army.

 

 

 

I suppose they are the official titles (either way ‘The’ is gone) but in common  usage - and even some official usage such as recruiting posters - they are now ‘Army’ et-al. Just two nights ago on the evening news there was an interview with ‘Head of Navy’ not ‘The head of the Navy’. 
 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

10 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

 

Another is the verb "to fit". The past tense, "fitted", seems be dead or dying. "It was a bit tight, but after a bit of fettling it fit".

 

Oh my God yes! Another real button-pusher for me that one and - I hasten to add -actually relevant to modelling! 👍

 

There was ‘fitted’ just sitting there minding its own business; a nice enough occasionally used word when, BLAM! Someone - we don’t know who - decided it’s time was up and it had to be replaced with ‘fit’ for absolutely no reason.
 

Poor thing. 😕

 

 

 

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

7 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

 

We used to give gifts, the act of giving being better than receiving and all that. Now it’s become "gifting". 

It’s so nice to know I’m not alone in hating these things!

[Black Knight]

7 hours ago, tank152 said:

Another one is when you ask someone how they are and they reply "i'm good" 

No i'm not asking if you've been behaving yourself.

One of my son's foreman mechanics had a habit of saying 'No, I'm good' if he didn't want a cuppa when I was making it and I asked him if he wanted one.

I broke him of the habit though, I think

I used to answer him back 'Yes, I know, you are always well behaved here, but do you want a cup of tea?

Now he answers, 'No thanks' (or yes please), but there is still a slight hesitation

 

I think I also broke a young lady's unthought response of 'Enjoy' after serving a customer.

I bought something in B&Q.

After paying for it et cetera the young lady said to me 'Enjoy'

I stopped, said to her 'I think that is really not appropriate here, its fine in a restaurant. Do you see what I bought? Do you think I'll really 'enjoy' it?

I showed her the bottle of paint remover I'd just bought

As I wandered off I heard her with the next customer; she hesitated then said to them 'Thank you, have a good day'

[ColonelKrypton]

 

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

 

           --James D. Nicoll

 

cheers, Graham

 

[Chimpion]

25 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

After paying for it et cetera the young lady said to me 'Enjoy'

I stopped, said to her 'I think that is really not appropriate here, its fine in a restaurant.

I beg to differ regarding the final statement. It's one of my pet hates.

[dnl42]

20 minutes ago, ColonelKrypton said:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language..."

Ah, my favorite description of the language.

 

Some good books: Eats, Shoots & Leaves and The Adventure of English

 

[Bandsaw Steve]

42 minutes ago, ColonelKrypton said:

 

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

 

           --James D. Nicoll

 

cheers, Graham

 

Indeed - all true. The English language is not ‘pure’ in any sense. 
 

My main issue is not with language ‘purity’ or with language changing or adapting.   It’s with  people intentionally altering or misusing - and possibly weakening - the language to no purpose. 
 

At work I deal with a lot of written reports and very often find people cannot write clearly because they are not used to the concept that specific words mean specific things. The usual excuse is ‘language is dynamic’, but here’s the catch; if language becomes ‘too dynamic’ then it becomes meaningless, or at least difficult to understand.
 

Samuel Johnson is considered a genius because he worked all of this out and codified the English language into a dictionary. My understanding is that prior to that all languages just ‘drifted along’ which is probably the reason so much archaic text is so difficult to understand.

[Admiral Puff]

And there's always "metre/meter". The first is a unit of measurement, the other an instrument of measurement. The two are related, but not interchangeable, regardless of what Microsoft may believe ...

[stevehnz]

God, what a pack of grumps. Can I join you please.

A lot of what you've been winging about is what I call buzz words & I 'spose buzz phrases & I've come to detest many of them but have to confess to using "thanks for the heads up" rather than, "thanks for bringing it to my attention". I actively resist using proactive, & a whole lexicon of other similar modern jargon which jars on the ear. Like it or lump it though, I reckon we're stuck with it.

Steve.

 

[P-3s rule]

Speaking of the terms 'helo' and 'chopper', in my RAAF service (usually pronounced raff), we tended to use the term 'helo' - although these were almost always army, navy, or civvie rotary wing beasts. This was the early 2000's. And I guess we use a lot of Americanisms these days -sometimes not a bad thing either!

 

A bugbear of mine is seeing the term ' comprising of' used so frequently in the media and modelling magazines. I notice it becoming less prevalent over the last year or so, and the term ' consisting of ' or just simply ' comprising' being used now. I'm no english teacher but to my mind 'comprising of or 'comprised of' just sound awkward.