What are your pet peeves re English usage?

It pains me to report that even so respected an editorial staff as that of The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine can come up with a howler. Cover headline in today's issue:

One out of 600 entries, this Cape jewel shined the brightest.
(The reference is to the winner in a most beautiful home contest.)
Now I know that JTT will probably say that it's perfectly understandable. Of course it is, but it's also WRONG. I was so upset by this silly slip of good grammar I muttered and mumbled the whole time while doing the crossword.

The active past tense of 'shine' is 'shone', not 'shined.'

I shined my light on the jewels and they shone like stars.

Damn! I'm still upset and it's been hours.

It's not that's it's wrong, it's the right music. It sounds right after those particular words... It's probably the ewel that does it.


this Cape jewel shone the brightest.

Someone ought to be shown the door.

Appalling.

I bet they use dove instead of dived, too.

Hi Clary!

(smorgs waves madly at Clary)

x

Wow! How did that get by the editors?

Here's another. It happened on SVU TV show again. Some character was in the realty business, and she kept saying, "realetor". The sign right behind her spelled it out: "Realtor."

Shine on you cra-azy diamond . . .

Or as we say in English, estate agent.

I just wonder why it's wrong, Merry. What does 'active past tense' mean?

I know what he means.

I shined my shoes until they shone.

The first one is active.

Been waiting for you, JTT. 'Active' may have been the wrong word to use. But if that use of 'shined' instead of 'shone' doesn't grate on your grammatical sense, you're far more tolerant than I am.

I think it was the right word to use.

Hey I saw an item in a restaurant menu which I must share here:

"Poached Supreme of Salmon on a Julienne of Vegetables served with a Cream of Vermouth Sauce"

Isn't that horrible- French adjectives become English nouns, vermouth gets a cream, a few capitals sprinkled in, shaken, stirred and tossed haphazardly together, and served.

I just hope the food isn't as bad as the linguistic useage at this place, McT.

I believe that the words "transitive" and "intransitive" would be more appropriate than "active" and "passive" in the context of shined/shone.

Now, perhaps I'm wrong but I would have said "I shone my torch*" when referring to my own (transitive) actions in the past...now I'm not so sure...does anyone know if I AM wrong?

*flashlight to Americans

K.P. according to my Warriner's English Grammar and Composition, which is the bible of such things here.

Infinitive-shine
Past- shone or shined
Past participle-(have) shone or shined.

Well I'm gonna shine my bike light in the direction of the Archers Dart right now, which should illuminate future trackway for 15 metres, if not future past pluperfect.

Archers' Dart? That sounds like rhyming slang, like raspberry tart.

"Gorblimey, who's dropped an Archers?" :wink:

Now being a woman of pure mind I'd havbe thought that meant Archers' Banger = clanger

(since Tom Archer's sausages are a recurrent part of the amazingly vibrant storylines - and I only ever listen to it by mistake when driving!)

Knock, knock.. I know I haven't been here a while but:
I came running to able2know yesterday* to see if there were an answer to a question which popped into my mind while reading The Expat Telegraph. There was a
Question]Question[/URL] of Christmas Carols and which were most favored. Bring a Torch (Jeannette Isabella) wasn't listed so I was reading up on the happy sounding title The Holly & The Ivy and almost ready to choose it as my favorite, when an oddity occurred to me.

The verses describe the HOLLY, but IVY is only mentioned a couple of times. What is going on? The Telegraph writer only says, "A striking image from nature, in which holly's blossom, red berry and prickle are linked to Christ's birth, blood and crucifixion."

But what about the IVY!? It occured likely to me that anyone from the UK, possibly someone on a2k, where I haven't been for ages, MIGHT KNOW. So here I am and v. interested in hearing, please, an explanation to this traditional English carol. (Non-UKers are, of course, welcome to tell me what this about, too. Thanks.)

To refresh your memory:
The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir



PS -- Sorry about the awkward URL link, but I'm rusty at a2k coding.

*& became immediately distracted by gift ideas & Frank Zappa - 2 of my favorites

Knock, knock.. I know I haven't been here a while but:
I came running to able2know yesterday* to see if there were an answer to a question which popped into my mind while reading The Expat Telegraph. There was a
Question]Question[/URL] of Christmas Carols and which were most favored. Bring a Torch (Jeannette Isabella) wasn't listed so I was reading up on the happy sounding title The Holly & The Ivy and almost ready to choose it as my favorite, when an oddity occurred to me.

The verses describe the HOLLY, but IVY is only mentioned a couple of times. What is going on? The Telegraph writer only says, "A striking image from nature, in which holly's blossom, red berry and prickle are linked to Christ's birth, blood and crucifixion."

But what about the IVY!? It occured likely to me that anyone from the UK, possibly someone on a2k, where I haven't been for ages, MIGHT KNOW. So here I am and v. interested in hearing, please, an explanation to this traditional English carol. (Non-UKers are, of course, welcome to tell me what this about, too. Thanks.)

To refresh your memory:
The holly and the ivy,
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a blossom
As white as lily flower
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To be our sweet Saviour
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a berry
As red as any blood
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
To do poor sinners good
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a prickle
As sharp as any thorn;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
On Christmas Day in the morn.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly bears a bark
As bitter as any gall;
And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ
For to redeem us all.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir

The holly and the ivy
Now both are full well grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
O the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The playing of the merry organ
Sweet singing of the choir



PS -- Sorry about the awkward URL link, but I'm rusty at a2k coding.

*& became immediately distracted by gift ideas & Frank Zappa - 2 of my favorites

All pre-Christian in origin. The holly, mistletoe and ivy are all evergreen, and the last two are also parasitic plants. They had a mystical significance in pagan (Druid and other?) religion.
Christians adopted the symbols of the evergreen tree and these plants and built them into the new celebration of the birth of the boy-child.
The Yule festival was the already-existing midwinter festival of course, and was to do with banishing darkness (the bonfire was therefore important) and surviving winter (the evergreen tree and plants).

So it's all a big jumble. And so also the music (carols and secular Christmas songs) reflects that.

Er...was that what you asked?