English Language Hamsterwheel
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Vendee
Posts: 141
English Language Hamsterwheel
At the suggestion of ATNotts I thought it worthwhile to start a thread dedicated to the usage of the English language. Errors we notice, aspects that we like, pitfalls, etc. Simply anything and everything to do with what is the closest the world has come to a universal tongue.
I admit to being a nerd in this regard as I have always enjoyed having errors, many I am most likely making myself, pointed out.
I'll serve with two: One runs the gauntlet but throws down the gantlet--from the French for glove/gloves les gants. I admit this is a battle long since lost however.
Second: One is a staunch supporter but a doctor stanches the bleeding.
Ball is now in your court. Limitations of the derivative use of the language aside, American cousins are welcome 😂
I admit to being a nerd in this regard as I have always enjoyed having errors, many I am most likely making myself, pointed out.
I'll serve with two: One runs the gauntlet but throws down the gantlet--from the French for glove/gloves les gants. I admit this is a battle long since lost however.
Second: One is a staunch supporter but a doctor stanches the bleeding.
Ball is now in your court. Limitations of the derivative use of the language aside, American cousins are welcome 😂
Last edited by Uncle Fred; 28th Oct 2020 at 23:38.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Vendee
Posts: 141
Originally Posted by Avionker
I really wish people would learn the difference between jealousy and envy. So many people use the term jealous when in fact they mean envious. Another lost battle I fear.
Last edited by Uncle Fred; 28th Oct 2020 at 23:03.
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Posts: 707
Uncle Fred, we are truly two nations divided by a common language! As you, I wither at the current state of our shared methodology of verbal communication. I find the intrusion of Rap, commonly known stateside as "Bronese" to be particularly repugnant. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy.
Never mind....
Hat, Coat, Motorized Conveyance
- Ed
I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a prefrontal lobotomy.
Never mind....
Hat, Coat, Motorized Conveyance
- Ed
Last edited by cavuman1; 28th Oct 2020 at 23:22.
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: France
Posts: 490
Dear Uncle Fred and ATNotts
What a good idea .... and sorry to flag up a problem 'tout de suite' (toot sweet?)
should this not read 'start a thread solely dedicated to'
Concerned but with respect,
A froggy friend
What a good idea .... and sorry to flag up a problem 'tout de suite' (toot sweet?)
start a thread dedicated to soley to
Concerned but with respect,
A froggy friend
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Vendee
Posts: 141
Originally Posted by Alsacienne
Dear Uncle Fred and ATNotts
What a good idea .... and sorry to flag up a problem 'tout de suite' (toot sweet?)
should this not read 'start a thread solely dedicated to'
Concerned but with respect,
A froggy friend
What a good idea .... and sorry to flag up a problem 'tout de suite' (toot sweet?)
should this not read 'start a thread solely dedicated to'
Concerned but with respect,
A froggy friend
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: SW England
Age: 75
Posts: 3,874
A few lost battles:
Between you and I. No idea why offenders think there is something wrong with "between you and me".
I was sat here (I think that the last rites have already been read over "sitting" in this context. See also stood/standing).
Us British are always talking about the weather. Are us? We grammar pedants hate that one.
Between you and I. No idea why offenders think there is something wrong with "between you and me".
I was sat here (I think that the last rites have already been read over "sitting" in this context. See also stood/standing).
Us British are always talking about the weather. Are us? We grammar pedants hate that one.
Psychophysiological entity
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Tweet Rob_Benham Famous author. Well, slightly famous.
Age: 82
Posts: 3,131
A bee in my bonnet . . . mainly because I overuse ellipses. Three dots with spaces, so seven keystrokes, unless your word processor does it for you. At the end of a sentence the closing " does not have a space before it.
In my book I use them to give a sense of timing . . . hoping the reader will hold their breath for a moment. Ideally, there would simply be more dots for longer pauses, so a great crisis could be conveyed by filling a page with dots.
In my book I use them to give a sense of timing . . . hoping the reader will hold their breath for a moment. Ideally, there would simply be more dots for longer pauses, so a great crisis could be conveyed by filling a page with dots.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: A better place.
Posts: 2,148
My personal bugbear.
Grammar pedants who bone on about split infinitives.
Nowt more than public school schnobbery.
Correct me if I am wrong, but in Latin you couldn't - whereas in English you can!
Part of wot makes it such an adaptable tongue...
Grammar pedants who bone on about split infinitives.
Nowt more than public school schnobbery.
Correct me if I am wrong, but in Latin you couldn't - whereas in English you can!
Part of wot makes it such an adaptable tongue...
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59
Posts: 110
The English language is both heaven and hell; for native speakers there is little excuse for getting it wrong (colloquialisms, accents and local dialects when speaking like for like excepted) How dull would life be if everyone sounded the same everywhere?
Accents and useage of language are separate from each other by a long way.
Accents and useage of language are separate from each other by a long way.
Last edited by TLDNMCL; 29th Oct 2020 at 02:04.
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: UK
Posts: 2
Time flies like an arrow.
Friut flies like a banana.
The word ‘scan’ has always struck me as strange; it can mean to look at something quickly, as in ‘scan the paper’, or it can mean to ‘examine intently’ in the way a MRI scanner would examine your body. Opposite meanings depending on context.
Friut flies like a banana.
The word ‘scan’ has always struck me as strange; it can mean to look at something quickly, as in ‘scan the paper’, or it can mean to ‘examine intently’ in the way a MRI scanner would examine your body. Opposite meanings depending on context.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Reading, UK
Posts: 13,934
Originally Posted by Ascend Charlie
Backflip. No, that still leaves you facing the original direction. How about "U-turn" or "about turn / about face".
