What are your pet peeves re English usage?

@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

AHD
o·ri·en·tate

VERB:
o·ri·en·tat·ed , o·ri·en·tat·ing , o·ri·en·tates
VERB:
tr.
To orient: "He . . . stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge" (John le Carré).

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/orientate

Quote:

OED

orientate
• verb another term for ORIENT.

http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/orientate?view=uk

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@aidan,

Damn those independent thinkers! Good thing she's shipped off to the UK. Luckily we've still got OmSigDavid and many more like-minded idiots.

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David wrote:

I guess that u probably mean ORIENTED, and DISORIENTED, right ?

That's what I usually write, but my automatic spellcheck keeps offering me the choice of desorientate.

I gave up and accepted its offer.

And it is also in the Merriam-Webster..

1 Reply

@Francis,

Francis wrote:

David wrote:
I guess that u probably mean ORIENTED, and DISORIENTED, right ?

That's what I usually write, but my automatic spellcheck keeps offering me the choice of desorientate.

I gave up and accepted its offer.

And it is also in the Merriam-Webster..

Maybe that word is correct in a different language.

1 Reply

You bastards.
No action on this thread for months, then when I'm offline for a week, five pages!
You bastards.

I knew JTT was pulling my leg, btw, or at least strongly suspected it.

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@OmSigDAVID,

Quote:

OmSig wrote: Maybe that word is correct in a different language.

No, David. As Francis notes [M-W] orientate is correct in AmE, too. orient is much more common. As you can see, the AHD notes that the meaning of the verb form orientate is 'to orient'.

Quote:

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY
o·ri·en·tate

VERB:
o·ri·en·tat·ed , o·ri·en·tat·ing , o·ri·en·tates
VERB:
tr.
To orient:

"He . . . stood for a moment, orientating himself exactly in the light of his knowledge" (John le Carré).

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/orientate

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@JTT,

I don't like "slake" used like that. Here (and don't foget where here is) you can only slake a thirst.

I think.

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@McTag,

That seems odd, McTag. Here's two example where it's slaking something else. Try a UK only google exact phrase search for "slake a".

Quote:

Champagne parties to slake Singapore's need for speed | Lifestyle ...
24 Sep 2008 ... SINGAPORE (Reuters Life!) - With champagne parties and caviar, restaurants along the world's first night Formula One race circuit in ...
uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE48N2DP20080924

Quote:

BBC News | TALKING POINT | Can a capital punishment conviction ...
21 May 2001 ... It may slake a community's lust for vengeance but it has very little proven evidence in drastic reduction in criminal behaviour within that ...
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1322807.stm - Cached - Similar

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@McTag,

McTag wrote:

I don't like "slake" used like that.
Here (and don't foget where here is) you can only slake a thirst.

I think.

slake verb, slaked, slak⋅ing.

"verb (used with object)
1. to allay (thirst, desire, wrath, etc.) by satisfying.
2. to cool or refresh: He slaked his lips with ice.
3. to make less active, vigorous, intense, etc.: His calm manner slaked their enthusiasm.
4. to cause disintegration of (lime) by treatment with water. Compare slaked lime.
5. Obsolete. to make loose or less tense; slacken.

"verb (used without object) 6. (of lime) to become slaked.
7. Archaic. to become less active, intense, vigorous, etc.; abate.

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Good work, David.

Odd, isn't it, how seeking the truth about things leads to far less confusion in the long run? Cockamamie ideas don't get encrusted in the deep recesses of peoples' brains.

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@JTT,

How deep?

1 Reply

@spendius,

Quote:

How deep?

Eight inches is about all I can muster, Spendi.

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@JTT,

Which is quite sufficient I gather from surveys I have seen of American statistical trends.

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@JTT,

Ample even.

1 Reply

@spendius,

Okay, so I embellished a tad.

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@JTT,

Not so cockamamie, I think.
You will note that the action of slaking is always involving water or liquid, and the other uses are metaphors of that.
And it's no use quoting from an American dictionary, you won't find the truth there.
Smile

1 Reply

@McTag,

I wasn't referring so much to your idea, McTag, tho' it seems to get caught in the wide sweep, I quoted some UK sources for that. It seems to me that if there are metaphorical uses then those are uses.

1 Reply

@JTT,

I happened to be writing my last post in the public library, so after posting (ufortunately not before) I was able to avail myself of the Shorter Oxford.
There I found that slake comes from an Old English root meaning to slacken.

Therefore its main meaning is slacken or lessen and my preference of liquid being involved (quench a thirst, slake lime with water) is actually about #8 or 9 of the meanings listed there. It's quite okay to use it for anger, desire etc without the filter of a metaphor.

So (ahem) OSD was right and I was wrong.

Drunk

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One of my peeves is the use of the noun "disrespect" as a verb as in he disrespected me. He may have been disrespectful to you but you can't be disrespected anymore than you can be computered. I know my dictionary is old and perhaps the newer versions allow for the recent rise in the use of disrespected to be included as acceptable because so many people use it. But it still makes me wince, I even heard a Judge use it in Court once....ouch.

1 Reply

McT -- it takes a big man to manfully admit he was wrong.

Glitter -- on a strictly gut level, I agree with you that using "disrespect" as a verb grates on my ears also. But, on retrospection, I realize that this is a very common phenomenon in the English language -- turning nouns into verbs. When I was a kid, the word "access" was strictly a noun. You didn't access some information; you had access to it. Then people started using it increasingly as a verb. Now, of course, I can access a website without breaking any grammar rules or raising any eybrows.

To disrespect someone started as a creole useage, I believe, most prevalent as an Ebonics expression rather than standard English. Gradually, it has become accepted in everyday American speech (I don't know how prevalent it is in the UK or elsewhere in the English-speaking world).

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What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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