-- Edited by Ontos45 on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:16:03 PM
GaryKelly said
05:05 PM Mar 6, 2013
Thought I'd start a thread for correcting common mistakes... like calling a median strip a "medium" strip. Median = middle. A median strip is the raised divider that runs down the middle of a road. Nothing to do with "medium".
Another one is using "of" instead of "have", as in could of, would of, should of. It comes from the mispronunciation of could've, would've, etc, that sounds like "of" but is actually an abbreviation of "have".
GaryKelly said
07:15 PM Mar 6, 2013
I agree with "different to"... a cat is different to a dog. But in the case of differ, if a person says "I beg to differ", they really mean "I beg to differ with (your opinion, your argument, etc). I think "an" used in conjunction with horrific is okay... one of those 'either or' thingies. An hotel, an historic building, an hotel, an hysterical joke. But if you choose to use "an" in those cases, technically you should drop the "h" in speech.
However, I was hoping this thread would encouraging illuminating gems about the proper name for various things... like antenna instead of aerial. Or suture instead of stitch. Docs are funny that way... insisting that an operation be called a "procedure". For years I thought 'One fell swoop' was 'one foul swoop', but the former is correct.
-- Edited by GaryKelly on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 07:16:41 PM
Gerty Dancer said
01:17 AM Mar 7, 2013
The newsreaders who say the ubiquitous "An horrific..." annoy me. Why does every bad event have to be described as "horrific"? theres many other words which could could be used. If the word horrific must be used, surely it should be preceded by "a" instead of "an"? When we say "an hour" the H is silent, but in "horrific" the H is sounded. Ok I'm getting back into my box.....
Peterpan said
01:22 AM Mar 7, 2013
Is it "to differ to" or " to differ from"?
Happywanderer said
01:24 AM Mar 7, 2013
One that annoys me, saying that instead of who. The lady that drove that car instead of The lady who drove that car.
Happywanderer said
01:30 AM Mar 7, 2013
Peterpan wrote:
Is it "to differ to" or " to differ from"?
I think it would be "to differ from" or maybe "is different to"
EllenajoeL said
01:49 AM Mar 7, 2013
I always notice (and am slightly bemused) when someone says 'pacific' when they mean to say 'specific' as they are, clearly, very different by definition.
I always notice (and am quite annoyed) when someone says '.....think' (eg somethink) when they mean to say '....thing' (eg something) as, almost always the '.....think' word is NOT a word at all!
Peterpan said
01:50 AM Mar 7, 2013
Happywanderer wrote:
Peterpan wrote:
Is it "to differ to" or " to differ from"?
I think it would be "to differ from" or maybe "is different to"
I agree with "to differ from" HW, this was drummed into me by Mum over many years.
Oh the bane of having a gooder english speaker in the family.
msg said
02:06 AM Mar 7, 2013
How about calling everything a disease? Whats wrong with it being an illness?
Beth54 said
04:00 AM Mar 7, 2013
The 'could of' instead of 'could have' is a pet hate of mine, because my daughter says it all the time.
What I really hate is when you read a mistake like that in print..say in a book or a newspaper. These people are supposed to be professionals, for goodness sake.
There was a similar thread not so long ago, and it became a little heated, because it seemed to be aimed at some GN's who weren't writing 'correctly'. (I know that is not your intention here GaryKelly.) Needless to say, this didn't go down well with some.
We must remember that not everyone has had a good education. Many older folk left school very young, or missed out on a lot of school.
My friends hubby calls me Beff. Apparently he was never corrected to get the 'th' right, so it stuck.
Dougwe said
04:20 AM Mar 7, 2013
Sounds more like a thingamajig or ooziwatsit :)
03_troopy said
04:29 AM Mar 7, 2013
GaryKelly wrote:
I agree with "different to"... a cat is different to a dog. But in the case of differ, if a person says "I beg to differ", they really mean "I beg to differ with (your opinion, your argument, etc). I think "an" used in conjunction with horrific is okay... one of those 'either or' thingies. An hotel, an historic building, an hotel, an hysterical joke. But if you choose to use "an" in those cases, technically you should drop the "h" in speech.
However, I was hoping this thread would encouraging illuminating gems about the proper name for various things... like antenna instead of aerial. Or suture instead of stitch. Docs are funny that way... insisting that an operation be called a "procedure". For years I thought 'One fell swoop' was 'one foul swoop', but the former is correct.
-- Edited by GaryKelly on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 07:16:41 PM
I don't think there is any problem with using either antenna or aerial. In over 30 years as a Radio/Avionics Technician I, and many other technicians, still use either. I probably lean more towards antenna though, but don't ask me why.
Rip and Rosie said
02:12 PM Mar 7, 2013
Delta18 wrote:
Rip and Rosie wrote:
One of mine.............
"Two times world champion"........ what is wrong with twice?
Twice times World Champion just doesn't sound right. Note the use of capitals, World Champion is a proper noun
Since when did proper nouns take captials?
Proper names do, and God does (as a matter of courtesy I guess), as does Her Majesty the Queen, but that's left over from history when kings and queens chopped your head off for disrespect.
-- Edited by Rip and Rosie on Thursday 7th of March 2013 02:12:59 PM
GaryKelly said
04:28 PM Mar 7, 2013
I used to write TV/video scripts and an aerial was a shot from the sky. But I've always used aerial to describe reception devices for car radios. I suppose antenna is the correct term but aerial is entrenched in the vernacular. As usual, common usage eventually wins the day. Words like "gonna" are now in official dictionaries.
Rip and Rosie said
05:26 PM Mar 7, 2013
One of mine.............
"Two times world champion"........ what is wrong with twice?
Delta18 said
06:03 PM Mar 7, 2013
Rip and Rosie wrote:
One of mine.............
"Two times world champion"........ what is wrong with twice?
Twice times World Champion just doesn't sound right. Note the use of capitals, World Champion is a proper noun
03_troopy said
02:43 AM Mar 8, 2013
GaryKelly wrote:
I used to write TV/video scripts and an aerial was a shot from the sky. But I've always used aerial to describe reception devices for car radios. I suppose antenna is the correct term but aerial is entrenched in the vernacular. As usual, common usage eventually wins the day. Words like "gonna" are now in official dictionaries.
When I started my trade as a radio tech in the early 70's, aerial was used in the text books.... but they dated back to the early 60's... antennea are what bugs have on them anyway.. LOL
Delta18 said
12:33 AM Mar 9, 2013
Rip and Rosie wrote:
Since when did proper nouns take captials?
Proper names do, and God does (as a matter of courtesy I guess), as does Her Majesty the Queen, but that's left over from history when kings and queens chopped your head off for disrespect.
-- Edited by Rip and Rosie on Thursday 7th of March 2013 02:12:59 PM
English language sucks. How hard it must be for an immigrant to learn?
Pam said
04:43 AM Mar 10, 2013
Why does it never rain anymore? Its now a rain event.
M i l says heighth not height.
GaryKelly said
05:06 AM Mar 10, 2013
My next door neighbor calls her hydrangea hide-a-ranger hehe, and I don't have the heart to correct her.
03_troopy said
05:44 AM Mar 10, 2013
we used to have a neighbour that had "sea enemas" in her fish tank... used to crack us up..
Pam said
06:10 AM Mar 10, 2013
How about chickens in pyjamas ( chicken Parma )
Pam said
06:10 AM Mar 10, 2013
How about chickens in pyjamas ( chicken Parma )
vk6tnc said
06:43 AM Mar 10, 2013
I know it was staged, but Kath and Kim being effluent still cracks me up !!!!
sandsmere said
02:12 PM Mar 10, 2013
That pain in the joints I've got called" Arthur Rightus " .
And , of course , we don't have black-outs anymore , just power outages . Political correctnes gone mad .
Rip and Rosie said
06:31 PM Mar 10, 2013
The plain old "car" is now a "vehicle".
No one drivers a "lorry" anymore.
We still have fire engines, although they seem to be morphing into "fire appliances"
GaryKelly said
06:35 PM Mar 10, 2013
Yep, political correctness gone mad alright... it's okay to call Australians Aussies, Americans Yanks, Brits Poms but not Aborigines Abos. If we can call post PM arvo, morning tea smoko, blokes named Dick Dicko or John Johnno, and compensation compo, what's wrong with Abo? I have Aboriginal friends and I'm sure they're not thin skinned about nicknames. We don't have blind people anymore but sight impaired. Dummies are intellectually challenged hehe.
Rip and Rosie said
06:59 PM Mar 10, 2013
GaryKelly wrote:
Yep, political correctness gone mad alright... it's okay to call Australians Aussies, Americans Yanks, Brits Poms but not Aborigines Abos. If we can call post PM arvo, morning tea smoko, blokes named Dick Dicko or John Johnno, and compensation compo, what's wrong with Abo? I have Aboriginal friends and I'm sure they're not thin skinned about nicknames. We don't have blind people anymore but sight impaired. Dummies are intellectually challenged hehe.
When some one, or some group feels insulted, then the correct thing to do is cut the crap.
Some "jokes" and "nicknames" can be hurtful.
We saw it with Irish jokes and Jewish jokes, and the hurt that the blonde jokes create in young women. I personally dislike religious jokes that vilify or ridicule deeply (and genuinely) held belief.
It's never polite to use "yanks" or "poms" except in very relaxed and informal situations, and only when the amercian or englishman is OK with it. Otherwise its rude.
For Australia's indigenous community, "abo" is felt as an insult, and a put down. If its about being "thin skinned" - so be it.
GaryKelly said
11:02 PM Mar 10, 2013
And that's precisely why we have political correctness, Rip & Rosie.
Is the Median strip of Median height? LOL
-- Edited by Ontos45 on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 01:16:03 PM
Thought I'd start a thread for correcting common mistakes... like calling a median strip a "medium" strip. Median = middle. A median strip is the raised divider that runs down the middle of a road. Nothing to do with "medium".
Another one is using "of" instead of "have", as in could of, would of, should of. It comes from the mispronunciation of could've, would've, etc, that sounds like "of" but is actually an abbreviation of "have".
I agree with "different to"... a cat is different to a dog. But in the case of differ, if a person says "I beg to differ", they really mean "I beg to differ with (your opinion, your argument, etc). I think "an" used in conjunction with horrific is okay... one of those 'either or' thingies. An hotel, an historic building, an hotel, an hysterical joke. But if you choose to use "an" in those cases, technically you should drop the "h" in speech.
However, I was hoping this thread would encouraging illuminating gems about the proper name for various things... like antenna instead of aerial. Or suture instead of stitch. Docs are funny that way... insisting that an operation be called a "procedure". For years I thought 'One fell swoop' was 'one foul swoop', but the former is correct.
-- Edited by GaryKelly on Wednesday 6th of March 2013 07:16:41 PM
Ok I'm getting back into my box.....
Is it "to differ to" or " to differ from"?
I think it would be "to differ from" or maybe "is different to"
I always notice (and am slightly bemused) when someone says 'pacific' when they mean to say 'specific' as they are, clearly, very different by definition.
I always notice (and am quite annoyed) when someone says '.....think' (eg somethink) when they mean to say '....thing' (eg something) as, almost always the '.....think' word is NOT a word at all!
I agree with "to differ from" HW, this was drummed into me by Mum over many years.
Oh the bane of having a gooder english speaker in the family.
The 'could of' instead of 'could have' is a pet hate of mine, because my daughter says it all the time.
What I really hate is when you read a mistake like that in print..say in a book or a newspaper. These people are supposed to be professionals, for goodness sake.
There was a similar thread not so long ago, and it became a little heated, because it seemed to be aimed at some GN's who weren't writing 'correctly'. (I know that is not your intention here GaryKelly.) Needless to say, this didn't go down well with some.
We must remember that not everyone has had a good education. Many older folk left school very young, or missed out on a lot of school.
My friends hubby calls me Beff. Apparently he was never corrected to get the 'th' right, so it stuck.
I don't think there is any problem with using either antenna or aerial. In over 30 years as a Radio/Avionics Technician I, and many other technicians, still use either. I probably lean more towards antenna though, but don't ask me why.
Since when did proper nouns take captials?
Proper names do, and God does (as a matter of courtesy I guess), as does Her Majesty the Queen, but that's left over from history when kings and queens chopped your head off for disrespect.
-- Edited by Rip and Rosie on Thursday 7th of March 2013 02:12:59 PM
"Two times world champion"........ what is wrong with twice?
Twice times World Champion just doesn't sound right.
Note the use of capitals, World Champion is a proper noun
When I started my trade as a radio tech in the early 70's, aerial was used in the text books.... but they dated back to the early 60's... antennea are what bugs have on them anyway.. LOL
My understanding is all proper nouns are capitalised, thus "he is the World Champion" but not "he is a world champion"..
English language sucks. How hard it must be for an immigrant to learn?
M i l says heighth not height.
That pain in the joints I've got called" Arthur Rightus " .
And , of course , we don't have black-outs anymore , just power outages .
Political correctnes gone mad .
No one drivers a "lorry" anymore.
We still have fire engines, although they seem to be morphing into "fire appliances"
When some one, or some group feels insulted, then the correct thing to do is cut the crap.
Some "jokes" and "nicknames" can be hurtful.
We saw it with Irish jokes and Jewish jokes, and the hurt that the blonde jokes create in young women. I personally dislike religious jokes that vilify or ridicule deeply (and genuinely) held belief.
It's never polite to use "yanks" or "poms" except in very relaxed and informal situations, and only when the amercian or englishman is OK with it. Otherwise its rude.
For Australia's indigenous community, "abo" is felt as an insult, and a put down. If its about being "thin skinned" - so be it.