It has suffered a change of meaning, and is now established journalese for conspicuous.

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See here: It has suffered a change of meaning, and is now established journalese for conspicuous.

Sometimes according to English idiom we can use FOR followed by an adjective.

eg I'm not sure—I can find out for definite if you like.
eg I just took it for granted that he'd always be around.

But in the above, CONSPICUOUS means easy to see or notice; likely to attract attention. Is it used in the same way?

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Type: Question • Score: 4 • Views: 1,788 • Replies: 25

[+3] - dalehileman - 05/08/2013[quote]I can find out for definite if you like[/quote]We don't say this

View best answer, chosen by WBYeats

@WBYeats,

Quote:

I can find out for definite if you like

We don't say this

3 Replies

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Quote:
I can find out for definite if you like
We don't say this

We do where I come from.

0 Replies

WBYeats, for how long are you going to post questions about Fowler?

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

Sometimes according to English idiom we can use FOR followed by an adjective.

You are misunderstanding. I see you are up to F in Fowler - ("to the fore"). Only 19 letters to go! This phrase is now, Fowler says, journalese for conspicuous. That is, it is used by journalists to mean "conspicuous". Perhaps quotes would have helped. Brown bread is Cockney slang for dead. Dingue is French slang for crazy.

Why didn't you say where you got this?

0 Replies

@contrex,

Sorry for this. But is there any rule prohibiting questions on the same author? If yes, really sorry for this, because I didn't find any rules like this....

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

is there any rule prohibiting questions on the same author?

There is no rule prohibiting questions on the same author. I am saying these things because you are asking questions about old-fashioned things you have seen in Henry Watson Fowler's "Dictionary of Modern English Usage". This book is in fact anything but "modern", having been published in 1926.

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Am I correct in saying that you are an American? And you use US English?

1 Reply

@contrex,

Contrex is right about Fowler, WB. You are much more likely to be misled by reading him than helped.

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

an American?

Yes

Quote:

And you use US English?

as far as I know

You have to forgive an ancient brain WB but I can't make sense out of your OP so appreciate if you could reword it; say, you're asking a little kid or a mentally incapacitated oldster (me)

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@dalehileman,

Quote:

I can find out for definite if you like

Quote:

We don't say this

What about this one, Dale?

I can find out for sure if you like.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

What about this one, Dale? I can find out for sure if you like.

Yes very collo

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c'mon? Ah, yeah, 10-4, Pig Pen, fer shure, fer shure. By golly, it's clean clear to Flag Town, c'mon. Yeah, that's a big 10-4 there, Pig Pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy...

1 Reply

@JTT,

Thanks JTT you've made my day

Wondering whether you composed that offhandedly or whether it required ref to a slang dictionary

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Those are some of the lyrics to Convoy by CW McCall, Dale. Doncha remember that song?

1 Reply

We say "for sure". We don't say "for definite". We might say "I can find out for you definitely, if you like."

0 Replies

What is supposed to be "estaqblished journalese for conspicuous"? Are you saying "conspicuous" is supposed to be a synonym of "for sure" or "for granted". It isn't.

2 Replies

@MontereyJack,

Yea Jack that has me going also

0 Replies

@JTT,

Quote:

Doncha remember that song?

JTT Hadta Google it

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/cw+mccall/convoy_20026575.html

0 Replies

@MontereyJack,

Who the hell are you talking to, Jack - yourself?

1 Reply

It has suffered a change of meaning, and is now established journalese for conspicuous.

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