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

goodgirl80

I'm still cross today that my friend used to write 'could of/ should of/ would of' in her essays at school and (as far as I'm aware) was never corrected!

Paul_Varjak

KimYeovil wrote: »

From a Cineworld programme: "Mars Need Moms".

When I was a young boy the adverts for Mars used to say:

"Every mum knows the good food value of a Mars bar".

So, I wrote to Mars, saying my mum did not know, so could they send one so she could find out for herself.

They replied, saying they could not send a Mars bar to every little boy that asked for one!

goodgirl80

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

When I was a young boy the adverts for Mars used to say:

"Every mum knows the good food value of a Mars bar".

So, I wrote to Mars, saying my mum did not know, so could they send one so she could find out for herself.

They replied, saying they could not send a Mars bar to every little boy that asked for one!

Stingy b*****ds :eek:

malc_b

On the 110% front, yes that is strictly impossible but I seem to recall that warships have a full speed and flank speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flank_speed

Full speed would be 100%, flank speed is, blow the engines if you must but get us the hell out of here. So there is some precedent for 110% effort/speed whatever.

starlights

One of my frustrations (and I have found as I age the list becomes longer) is when children in my class have been playing games and the victor declares 'I won Fred at dominoes.' It usually prompts my reply, 'What will you do with him? Take him home and put him on your mantlepiece?'

telboyo

malc_b wrote: »

On the 110% front, yes that is strictly impossible but I seem to recall that warships have a full speed and flank speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flank_speed

Full speed would be 100%, flank speed is, blow the engines if you must but get us the hell out of here. So there is some precedent for 110% effort/speed whatever.

Jet engine speed is often rated at over 100%- tis means it is operating above its desired/design maximum speed.

Exhortation

I'm not going to traipse through eleven plus pages of comments to see if my pet hates have already been mentioned. I'll simply suggest that one of the biggest crimes against the English language has to be that favourite of sport presenters and pundits - "big ask". Misuse of an apostrophe annoys me, too. The banner at the top of every page on this forum is a typical example. It should read "Martin Lewis's MoneySavingExpert.com".

The people who have complained about the dropping of "t" from words have my sympathy. My wife, an educated and formerly well-spoken woman, has been guilty of this crime since not long after we moved to the south coast and she started working in Portsmouth. It drives me bananas.

One last one I've just thought of. On more than one occasion I've seen the the word "probably" spelt "prolly" by contributors to this forum. It beggars belief, it really does.

Devout_Miser

"Big ask" :mad:

I agree that this site should be styled "Martin Lewis's" - there is a school of thought that contends it is correct as it appears above (see Lynne Truss's book), but I'm guided by how the site's name would be spoken. This week I recommended it to a friend, and in doing so I said "Have you tried Martin Lewis's site", not "Have you tried Martin Lewis' site". Similarly, I would write "I went to the Joneses' house today" and I would say it the same way: writing or saying "I went to the Joneses's house" would obviously be incorrect. Our English master taught us to avoid forming the sound "iziz" when using apostrophes. Mr Lewis should award himself the one "iz" he needs!

I have heard some reporters say they are at a place called "Wemberly", probably (or should I say "prolly"?) the same people that report a building as having "clapsed". I wish they would learn to speak Engerlish - and yes, I've even heard that one!

prudencekitten

'Big ask' - grr! To go with this can I add 'my bad'?

If this has turned up already, my bad.

Hadrian

It's PERFORMANCE, not PROFORMANCE. :mad::mad::mad: