What are your pet peeves re English usage?

To continue Mame's theme, I had a friend who strongly objected to 'new baby'. I see her point. Personally I don't like it when people ask parents of newborns what the sex is and they say 'it's a little girl' (or boy, natch). One would hardly expect a large one.

How about Thermos for any vacuum flask, Tupperware for those plastic storage boxes, Allen key (seems to go with Stanley knife), Nescafe for any instant coffee (the official name in some places - India? Also shortened to Nes)

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I can see the sense in "new baby" when it's a new arrival (and the couple have got, say, two or three other young children)

"Jane and John have just had a new baby/ another baby"

I wouldn't get too excercised over that.

How about "at a young age"? Am I right in thinking "age" can not be "young"?
But I can be an old-age pensioner. So perhaps I am wrong.

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Clary wrote:

How about Thermos for any vacuum flask, Tupperware for those plastic storage boxes, Allen key (seems to go with Stanley knife), Nescafe for any instant coffee (the official name in some places - India? Also shortened to Nes)

Clary, I think there was an entire thread on this subject on A2K about a year or more ago. It's there I learned that Frisbee is a trademark name for a plastic disc, not a generic one. And I still call paper tissues Kleenex. Smile

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Ah, I suppose it's of perennial interest!

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When I was driving round, (I went to Homebase for a bit- 990 mm- of preformed laminated kitchen worktop) I thought of others to go with Stanley knife, Allen key etc....RawlPlug, WorkMate and Philips head (screwdriver.)

The first two of those anyway are generic terms which come from a trade name.

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What in heaven's name is a WorkMate? Except some burly guy with a back cleavage who will entertain bored housewives in Formby!!?

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Quote:

What in heaven's name is a WorkMate?

Ask Spendius, I'm sure he'll have an entertaining answer.

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And as for Phillips head... Embarrassed

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A WorkMate is a very ingenious and successful type of folding, portable work bench which made its inventor a fortune.

Philips head screws/ screwdriver; if you need to ask, you don't need to know. :wink:
It's the cross-headed type, which was a design improvement on the traditional slotted head screw...then came the Posidrive, but you probably don't want to know any more.

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Which reminds me....we were working at the back of a Chinese restaurant once, and had a bit of a problem. We asked the proprietor if he had a screwdriver, and he said

"Firrips?"

It took us a couple of secs to cotton on. Laughing

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Oh yes, I do know about Phillip's head now you mention it - a propos of screws. I've always called it a fourple screw, but that's personal.

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I don't know about the UK, but in the US it's common to call a circular electric saw a SkilSaw. And those who don't realize that SkilSaw is a trade name think that the gadget is properly called s "skill saw." Smile

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We have a Stihl saw, which is usually an abrasive disc cutter. Very useful tool. Cuts concrete, stone, steel, the Sunday roast, you name it.

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McTag wrote:

How about "at a young age"? Am I right in thinking "age" can not be "young"?
But I can be an old-age pensioner. So perhaps I am wrong.

Here, age means "stage of life" or a period in one's life, so "at a young age" is fine, particularly if you can not remember whether you were four or five when you learned whatever you're discussing.

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It sounds like the Brits use brand names more than Americans do. We call an Allen key an Allen wrench. Funny, I never knew that Allen of wrench/key fame and Phillips of screwdriver fame were brand names. That's odd, because they're everywhere, manufactured by many companies.

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Tool trivia:
Almost all tools have several names, some of them localized as in "water pump pliers" for Channelocks, some of them personal like Clary's fourple for Phillips which I'm sure Henry F. Phillips, the inventor (1938) would not enjoy.

The Allen Key is a Hex Wrench is an EL Key is a Hex EL is a Hex Key is a good example.

So is the Crescent Wrench is a Spanner is an Adjustable is a Knucklebuster is another.

I always thought that "Hammer" was exempt until I met a woman whose father told her, at age seven, that it was called a Whammer and she believed him until I broke her heart with the news when she was nearing thirty.

Joe(I told her it was a hammer and that she was nearing thirty)Nation

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McTag wrote:

We have a Stihl saw, which is usually an abrasive disc cutter. Very useful tool. Cuts concrete, stone, steel, the Sunday roast, you name it.

I think Stihl, I think chainsaw.

I say Allen wrench.

Recently, I've been irked by the persistent use of "distention" in a set of notes. Thinking, "damn it, it's 'distension,' you jackass."

So I looked it up to make sure I was right. And I was. Sort of. Both are acceptable spellings, which I find unacceptable. Nonetheless, "distension" yields about 1.8 million Google hits, while "distention" yields only about a round million. So I figure I've got a 9:5 edge...

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At the considerable risk of boring the ladies, there are of course many mechanical devices which are known by their inventor's or manufacturers' name (maybe because of copyright law, where no alternative could be manufactured in time to rival that market niche:

Bendix gear, Bauer coupling. Or just an Apple. Smile

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Joe Nation wrote:

Tool trivia:
Almost all tools have several names, some of them localized as in "water pump pliers" for Channelocks, some of them personal like Clary's fourple for Phillips which I'm sure Henry F. Phillips, the inventor (1938) would not enjoy.

The Allen Key is a Hex Wrench is an EL Key is a Hex EL is a Hex Key is a good example.

So is the Crescent Wrench is a Spanner is an Adjustable is a Knucklebuster is another.

Joe(I told her it was a hammer and that she was nearing thirty)Nation

Interesting about Phillips.

We have a big wrench called a Stilson, or sometimes a "set of stilsons". Do you have that?

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Don't assume, McTag. I am fascinated by all these mechanical terms; just listening to In Our Time about the Archimedes screw.

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What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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