'The word pedants' top 10 | It's specific, not Pacific...' blog discussion.

angelatgraceland

Ah well-Drown dead makes sense. It is now unfortunately distorted.
Assurance and Insurance is another one that trips people up.
"Well, it's goodnight from myself and ****" might make a little more sense.
Thinked and thought
Me thinks instead of I think.
It's paining for it is hurting
Bargin for bargain. I saw this on a big poster in Iceland.
Oh it is FUN in Brizzle!

deeplyblue

ScarletBea wrote: »

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with you. To decimate is to reduce drastically, not just 10%, it's not linked to the 'decimal system'.

OK, this is probably the fifty-first post answering this one, but these things produce steam from my ears - note to smiley producers - where is the "steam coming out of ears" emoticon?

Yes, decimate has a lot to do with the decimal system. Both words come from the Latin word for "ten"

Decimation was a punishment in the Roman army when an entire group were deemed guilty of something (cowardice, indiscipline, wrong aftershave), and they were lined up and every tenth man was punished - usually executed.

It was assumed, I think, that a fighting force was still operational at 90% strength, and that was better than a force which wasn't obeying orders. So you could lose 1 man in 10 with safety. Execute any more and you reduced your fighting efficiency by too much.

However, 1 man in 10 is still a lot of dead men and it was a severe punishment. (Imagine if every tenth person in your local football stadium was to drop dead) It was also a random one - they didn't kill 10 selected men. They chose the first one and then counted every 10 from there. This is one reason why people use the expression to describe a seemingly random slaughter of a large number of people.

deeplyblue

I'm very much with you on "literally" - it's a pet hate, though I'm conscious of a slight inconsistency in that I use the word "really" (which means the same thing - something has happened in reality) as a general intensifier.

110% - cute the first 2, or maybe 3 times I heard it. But that was a lot of years ago, and there are still people of my age who think it's a really creative expression.

Another "not cute any longer if it ever was" phrase: "children of all ages."

"And the rest, as they say, is history." Once upon a time people said, "the rest is history." Nowadays nobody says it, they all say, "and the rest, as they say, is history. In the age of the sound bite could we liberate the phrase and start saying, "the rest is history." Please.

Then there's "unimaginable". Now the central processor in a modern computer has several billions of little objects - man-invented manufactured objects - in something like 2 square inches. Try to imagine that - get a picture in your head of one billion things, and then fit them (in your head) into 2 square inches.

Quantum physics makes it possible for something to be in 2 different places at the same time and to get from A to B without passing through the space between them. Try to imagine that happening.

God, we are told, knows absolutely everything that is happening to every atom in the universe, both separately and in man-sized, world-sized and galaxy-sized groups and all the time. I find I cannot imagine that - it's unimaginable, but many people seem to believe it.

However, when a reporter turns to camera and says that what is happening in a certain area is a scene of "unimaginable horror", I baulk at that. Often as not, it's what one lot of human beings have done to another lot. Sometimes the reporter has just seen it, and is about to describe it to the audience. Unimaginable, therefore, it is not. Terrible, yes. The sort of thing you don't want to believe in - but "unbelievable" isn't much better, since you are usually being asked to believe in it.

My especial wroth, just at the moment, is saved for "refute". Once upon a time we had three stages of saying that what someone else had said was wrong.

We could say "I deny that there is any shadow on my lungs." That's simply a statement saying that something isn't so.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, we can say, "I can prove that there is nothing wrong with my lungs. I have had a thorough check up in one of the country's leading diagnostic centres, and I have just published the full x-rays on the internet." That counts as proof, until the conspiracy theorists of the sensationalist press get hold of it.

Then there's something part way between. "I can refute this stupid idea that I have lung cancer. You saw me jog all the way around the park this morning, and yesterday morning and, if you care to, you can see me do again tomorrow morning." Now that isn't proof - he might be collapsing with pain and exhaustion and coughing fits when he comes in. It's not in the same league as an x-ray, but it provides some backing, which is where it differs from denial.

Refutation allows for the possibility of counter-evidence. The opposite might still be the case, but it usually includes something suggestive of proof. It's stronger than a plain denial, because it includes evidence or argument which might be part of a genuine proof. It's weaker than proof, because the evidence isn't watertight or the chain or reasoning is not conclusive.

By turning "refute" into a posh word for "deny", we lose a concept from the language. So I shall keep shouting at the idiots on the box until they learn.

coolcait

To add to the list:

"I seen"

"I have wrote"

"have went (e.g. "all the people who have went out and bought it" - Cheryl Cole)

"I done"

"you was" (e.g Alesha on Strictly)

Still, I except you win some you loose some, and I should of went to bed ages ago - then I wouldn't of saw this fread

deeplyblue

Jesthar wrote: »

Biggest pet hate not mentioned so far: when people pronouce the word 'nuclear' as 'new-killa' :mad: - it's not rocket science, people!

As to rocket science, I'm not qualified to judge.

Suppose you have to choose between new-killa and non-clear. It might come to that, since I found it very hard to get one of my teenagers to pronounce it properly, and it still doesn't come out right xx years later.

Terri31

There instead of their and vice versa; their = belongs to, and there is used as in over there - ie a place. So there you are, I agree with you there = in that respect!

Terri31

Or 'nucular' instead of 'nuclear'...

Treng63

I have been a long time member of a certain weight loss site and the amount of people who want to "loose" weight is amazing! My number one hate of all time is the use of "haitch", it drives me mad!!!! :mad: Look it up in the dictionary, there is no h at the start of aitch!!!!!!!! Grrrr.....

Treng63

:T. This says it all. Excellent.

Richard019 wrote: »

It can be less annoying when you understand the underlying principles though:

Giving more than 100 %

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100 %? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants over 100 %. How about achieving 103 %? Here's a little math that might prove helpful. What makes life 100 %?

If
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then,
H A R D W O R K
8 1 18 4 23 15 18 11 = 98%
K N O W L E D G E
11 14 15 23 12 5 4 7 5 = 96%

But,
A T T I T U D E
1 20 20 9 20 21 4 5 = 100%

And,
B U L L S H I T
2 21 12 12 19 8 9 20 = 103%

So, it stands to reason that hardwork and knowledge will get you close, attitude will get you there, but !!!!!!!! will put you over the top.

And look how far this will take you ...

A S S K I S S I N G
1 19 19 11 9 19 19 9 14 7 = 118%

Think about it ... and have a nice day at work.

giunda

hi`, yes, i think