What are your pet peeves re English usage?

@JTT,

We don't do that sort of nonsense in England JT. At least not where it matters.

You really are very frightened at the prospect of losing an argument aren't you?

It's the only way to learn anything useful actually.

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@roger,

Quote:

Does it seem odd to anyone but myself that some will use the number of Google hits in support of an argument?

It also seems odd to Setanta, Roger, but he is close to as dumb as you when it comes to how language works.

I want to point up your brilliant arguments wrt your notion.

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@McTag,

Quote:

Which requires a much longer sentence.

Which prescriptivist created this nonsense?

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@McTag,

Quote:

Does it seem odd to anyone but myself that some will use the number of Google hits in support of an argument?

I guess you don't agree with Roger's goofy ideas.

1 Reply

@JTT,

For those a bit slow witted "goofy" is like "silly" and "junior" and "hypocrite" and all the other idiocies.

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@roger,

Quote:

Does it seem odd to anyone but myself that some will use the number of Google hits in support of an argument?

Linguists use Google for precisely this purpose, Roger. What problems do you see in using it?

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@McTag,

Quote:

The figures in the computer count could well include phrases like

They well could, McTag, but anyone with a ear for language knows that Roger's silly notion was a bogus prescription that he has plagiarized from some other silly prescriptivist.

Quote:

surround

But the criticism is less common than the expressions themselves:

The M-W Dictionary of English Usage pg 884

It's the surreal denial of reality that makes these prescriptions so hard to swallow.

1 Reply

@spendius,

Quote:

We don't do that sort of nonsense in England JT. At least not where it matters.

Your referent is not very clear, Spendi.

Quote:

You really are very frightened at the prospect of losing an argument aren't you?

It's the only way to learn anything useful actually.

Not in the least. When I make a mistake I own up to it.

Note how you haven't addressed the pertinent issue at all.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

McTag shows flashes of brilliance but he is so bedeviled by his prescriptive upbringing that it all too often badly clouds his judgment.

That sounds like me.
Apart from the brilliance bit.
And the clouded judgement.
Wink

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

When I make a mistake I own up to it.

I wasn't talking about mistakes JT.

Quote:

Language would be in dire straits if it was limited by the silly pretensions of peevists, McTag.

That's not a mistake. It's the way you are. As is your refusal to accept my comments about it which did not exhaust the solecisms involved in the blurt. Leaving out "silly" doesn't improve it much.

Assertivitis is okay in such cases as smacking a fast curve ball into the stands. The mere typing out of "silly pretensions" is a nothing thing.

Too much Mark Twain and Mencken maybe.

It was common on the evolution threads, a daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence, that God could be proved to not exist because I had had two pints the night before.

I wouldn't say that the Iraq war was based on an assertion because I think there were other reasons behind it but it was sold to the public on an assertion.

I could just as easily say that language would be in dire straits and unfit for some important purposes if it was limited by the silly pretensions of anti-peevists. Which I would never say of course because it would no longer be a discussion but just two people blurting contradictory assertions at each other. Fastest on the draw winning.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

They well could, McTag, but anyone with a ear for language knows that Roger's silly notion was a bogus prescription that he has plagiarized from some other silly prescriptivist.

And that is wallowing in the incompetence.

I would sue the Secretary of State for education if I was you for rendering you unfit to socialise.

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@McTag,

You were only designated brilliant, in flashes, Mac to point up the absence of the quality in others and to undermine your resistance.

It's a common trick. JT's posts are sufficient evidence for me to conclude that she is unqualified to discuss language use.

I think JT is female although a chicken sexer I knew as a kid told me that he wasn't 100% right. He said the skill was intuitive.

Neville Cardus wrote about the effects of growing up in a house full of drying lingerie.

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@spendius,

Quote:

We don't do that sort of nonsense in England JT.

If you are referring to grammatical and language prescriptions, you most certainly do that sort of nonsense in England. You have Fowler for dog's sakes and it certainly isn't limited to him.

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@spendius,

Quote:

Assertivitis is okay in such cases as smacking a fast curve ball into the stands. The mere typing out of "silly pretensions" is a nothing thing.

Assertions:

1. That's not a mistake.
2. It's the way you are.
3. As is your refusal to accept my comments about it which did not exhaust the solecisms involved in the blurt.
4. Leaving out "silly" doesn't improve it much.
5. Assertivitis is okay in such cases as smacking a fast curve ball into the stands. 6. The mere typing out of "silly pretensions" is a nothing thing.
7. Too much Mark Twain and Mencken maybe.
8.It was common on the evolution threads, a daily, sometimes hourly, occurrence, that God could be proved to not exist because I had had two pints the night before.
9.I wouldn't say that the Iraq war was based on an assertion because I think there were other reasons behind it but it was sold to the public on an assertion.
10. ...
11. ...
12. ...

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https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/944727_496024103802289_1494600624_n.png

1 Reply

@Region Philbis,

If that's wrong, you can assume other stuff is wrong too.

Come on, Roger! I don't expect you to read The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language or something similar, but can't you even bother to check a dictionary?

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

Come on, Roger! I don't expect you to read The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language or something similar, but can't you even bother to check a dictionary?

A minuscule error, surely.

It may be a moot point but I'm peevish about egregious antagonymical solecisms to this very day.

1 Reply

@laughoutlood,

Not even a miniscule error, LOL.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Yes, but enough of the little things that catch one's eye, unto gianter matters.

Today's local paper included the following caption (of an otherwise charming seaside vista):

A giant mural celebrating Aboriginal culture and heritage has being placed on Stuart Somerville Bridge at Queenscliff.

I immediately went into apoplectic attack mode and foned the lousy rags editor to complain.

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@laughoutlood,

I should say, LOL.

0 Replies

What are your pet peeves re English usage?

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