Nice people thread part 8 - worth the wait

Generali

zagubov wrote: »

Probably about the same time I started noticing how often I'm seeing the spelling "center".

I approve of American spellings by and large. I suppose gen has to get used to them in Oz.
But I'll feel I'll be ready for the grave if people in Britain start talking about "A to Zee". One of the reasons I'd prefer Canada to Oz.:D

TBH to -ise or to -ize has never bothered me. IIRC the OED reckons both are correct anyway. A lot of what people think of as Americanisms are either dialect words (e.g. 'Fall' for Autumn which I think is from Norfolk) or archaic constructions (e.g.using the old verb conjunction in 'gotten').

I quite like using those sorts of words as nothing puts the blood pressure of a pompous fool more than hearing that sort of thing, calling it out and then being told he's (almost always he IME) wrong.

The thing that gets my goat is the way that people in corporations 'jargonise' the language. 'The xxx space' is quite annoying for example. Anyway I think I've gone on about this before.

The one I don't know whether or not to be upset by is the thing of adding 'ise' (or 'ize') to a noun to make it into a verb. Verb/noun interchangeability has a venerable history apparently. My favourite is 'to burgle' which became a noun ('burglar') and now is in the process of being turned back into a verb ('to burglarize').

Ultimately, one of the great things about English is that it's free to develop in the way that users see fit, despite what Lynn Truss will have you believe there is no right and wrong. Nobody talks about how bits of the Great Vowel Shift were wrong for example, usage simply changed (e.g. Chaucer would have gotten his wool from a 'shape' whereas we get it from a 'sheep' and the word 'sight' would have rhymed with our modern 'meet', the sound has literally moved to made in a different part of our mouths, generally higher up).

Some changes bother me. I find split infinitives clunky (putting a word in the middle of the infinitive 'to xxx', e.g. 'to brazenly split an infinitive', 'to split' being the infinitive, the root of the verb) and it saddens me that so many accents are being killed off. Most accents in SE and Central Southern England seem to be being replaced by 'Mockney' (or 'Estuary English' for the polite) and Cockney seems to be being replaced by this bizarre faux West Indian accent (I use 'West Indian' as there is no such place as the West Indies really). You can fight against it or roll with it, the outcome will be the same. People will talk how they want, innit.

PasturesNew

Cleveland, bizarre.

lostinrates

Fwiw I know a few Americans who eschew American spelling too.

LydiaJ

Generali wrote: »

The one I don't know whether or not to be upset by is the thing of adding 'ise' (or 'ize') to a noun to make it into a verb. Verb/noun interchangeability has a venerable history apparently. My favourite is 'to burgle' which became a noun ('burglar') and now is in the process of being turned back into a verb ('to burglarize').

I tend to feel that adding ise to random nouns is irritating when it's corporate-speak but fine when it's semi-humorous casual conversation. For example, our cleaner is a lady called Christine. I picked up from another of her customers of referring to the lovely clean house when she's been by saying "Ah, we've been Christined." When the house is tidy enough for her to be able to clean it, we say that it is "Christinable" (or should that be "Christineable" - both look wrong). When it is not (eg lego all over the floor), I tell my kids that we need to "Christinablise" it.

bugslet

I'v got about 12 pages to catch up, I'm going to have to stop having weeknds off the computer.

Nikkster wrote: »

I hate fancy dress parties too! Luckily I don't get invited to many (don't get invited to many parties full stop), but I have a (clean) lab coat and some safety specs as a really unoriginal back up

I never get the point of them either. However, I just go as a bellydancer as that is what I spend quite a lot of time doing anyway ( not that much fits as it should anymore, grrrr).

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Here. She grew up in Wallasey (Cheshire), Birkenhead, Skipton, Shrewbury, Buxton, Liverpool and finally near Croydon. Although she was born after the war (1948) she remembered rationing - meat and sugar were rationed for ages after the war. My Dad was born 18 months after her, and he remembers sugar coming off ration, too.

Mr Bugs was born in 1941( at this point I'd like to say I'm significantly younger than him!), in Southport; BB dates were a total irrelavancy! If it didn't have green fur on it, it was edible!

PasturesNew wrote: »

Yes - done some too. It's got its place and I plan to do more ... once settled and once I have an income.

A friend of mine has an 'interesting' sideline to her main job, which makes her a nice little income - surprised me, but I'm not espeically maudlin or sentimental. Should one of your relatives pass away, you can get the undertaker to take an impression of a fingerprint and she 'transfers' it onto silverclay and turns it into a pendant or key tag - once one member of the family does it, others usualy follow suit. Not my cup of tea, but each to their own and all that.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

Generali wrote: »

The thing that gets my goat is the way that people in corporations 'jargonise' the language.

Nothing worse.

Our company has done well over the years to resist it and remains pleasantly jargon-free... to the point that I'll have to be careful not to laugh at some of the more obvious ones if I ever move somewhere else.

bugslet

michaels wrote: »

We never eat out as budget doesn't allow but things may change after mortgage is paid off in 5 years but it seems very hard justifying spending more on one meal than we spend a week on food at home.

You shame me, I need to budget better, but I like going out far too much. So much an the opening of an envelope and I am there!

michaels wrote: »

Hmm - if my first chore of he day was poo picking I think I would struggle even more to wake up.

Wouldn't last long in my house:rotfl:

silvercar wrote: »

Exciting news, DS1 has a paid internship.:T
!

Congratulations DS1. Hope it leads to full-time for him.

Here in Bugs Towers, it's not looking like an especially good day. The oldest mutt has not had a good weekend and it's that dilemma moment between is it better to let him go now or hang on for a few more days.

bugslet

Spirit wrote: »

CK ..have you taken these?

I'm actually feeling sorry I'm going to miss Eurovision now.

silvercar

LydiaJ wrote: »

I tend to feel that adding ise to random nouns is irritating when it's corporate-speak but fine when it's semi-humorous casual conversation. For example, our cleaner is a lady called Christine. I picked up from another of her customers of referring to the lovely clean house when she's been by saying "Ah, we've been Christined." When the house is tidy enough for her to be able to clean it, we say that it is "Christinable" (or should that be "Christineable" - both look wrong). When it is not (eg lego all over the floor), I tell my kids that we need to "Christinablise" it.

OH reckoned I was "Tiffany-ed out" as if Tiffany was ever a verb!

lostinrates

bugslet wrote: »

Here in Bugs Towers, it's not looking like an especially good day. The oldest mutt has not had a good weekend and it's that dilemma moment between is it better to let him go now or hang on for a few more days.

Oh, I'm so sorry. It's such a hard place to be. We have been on last few days death watch for old girl horse for over a year now and its incredibly wearing. Although it was traumatic the way special girl went was easier for her and us.

We are not far from being on 'old dog' duty again, now big dog has reached 'that sort of age'. She is doing brilliantly but has a back/neck problem that many of her breed get. . I will not be able to lift her on my own like I did previous dogs. At some point w will make he decision 'too soon'm for my preference. Meanwhile she's going to have her bits out and a lump from a teat imminently. Last chance really!