What are your pet peeves re English usage?

And you live in Australia! Better get out of there right quick, Ay. Your teeth are gonna be nubs in no time.

Oi, heaven help me if I start to speak Aussie-speak!

Sorry, This is off topic

Hey sont, remember me? *grin*

Ffin!!!?? Can it be?? I was thinking about you today.
ok, if this is not ffin....

it, errr, might be 8)

you do realize mirc is easier for this ;P

Not really a peeve this, but not worth a new topic.

Does anyone know why the US uses "co-worker" instead of "colleague", which is in common usage in Britain? Does it come from their aversion to our Frenchified spellings?

Cheers.

Good question, Yorkie

Perhaps it's a direct translation of another language, for example the Germans use "Mitarbeiter", literally "With-worker" so Co-worker is the nearest English equivalent.

Of course, this is a long shot, as most German words only enter the American language through Yiddish, and I only know a few words of that!

KP with Freedom Fries,

Apparently...

1533, from M.Fr. collègue, from L. collega "partner in office," from com- "with" + leg-, stem of legare "to choose." So, "one chosen to work with another." source

Which, upon reflection, puts us nowhere nearer to an answer... Perhaps that Webster bloke got rid of it because it was too obscure, and the meaning of "co-worker" is much more obvious? Just speculatin'...

Colleague has, in times past and in America, a more white-collar scent to it, meanwhile co-workers sweated together on the factory floor. More recently, perhaps to achieve some sort of solidarity, colleagues at the law firms, stock brokerages and insurance offices began to introduce themselves as co-workers, though on my Verizon cellphone the categories are Friend, Family, VIP, No Name and Colleague.

Joe(He was a colleague of mine till he was sent up to the majors)Nation

On the wireless (radio) this morning there was a news item about a soldier serving in Iraq who had just been cited for the award of the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest award for valour.

The item said he had saved the lives of his COLLEAGUES! I was so shocked I nearly crashed the car. I would never have used that word there.

Not to disturb...

Why not make another word hyphenating "co" and "leagues" as in "co-leagues"...

Just for football(soccer) fans.

Joe - Thanks for the "insider" information. I could only remember seeing "co-worker" used in the writings of my American cousins, but then again, I have the memory of a goldfish on drugs so... I checked dictionary.com for "colleague" and they had the following entries:

A fellow member of a profession, staff, or academic faculty; an associate. (American Heritage Dictionary)

n 1: an associate you work with [syn: co-worker, fellow worker, workfellow] 2: a person who is member of your class or profession; "the surgeon consulted his colleagues"; "he sent e-mail to his fellow hackers" [syn: confrere, fellow] (WordNet, Princeton University)

And for "co-worker" at dictionary.com

One who works with another; a fellow worker. (Heritage)

n : an associate you work with [syn: colleague, fellow worker, workfellow] (Princeton)

Which is basically what you said.

Incidently, the blue-collar equivalent of "co-worker" in Britain (at least in my part of it) would be "workmate".

McT - Yes, it's all nonsense. The story at the BBC News website website uses "colleagues" as well. Further down in the story, they are refered to as "wounded comrades", which is better, I think.

Francis - You are just trying to confuse me even further!! :wink:

According to M-W, a colleague is

Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002

I checked out some online British dictionaries, and got the following for "colleague":

n. a person with whom one works. Compact Oxford English Dictionary

n. one of a group of people who work together Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

And for "co-worker"

n. a person working with another worker, especially as a partner or helper Cambridge

And no entry in the Compact Oxford.

There seems to be a definite difference in meaning of "colleague" depending on which side of the pond you live. Interesting.... to me, if no-one else!

So how long do we have to wait before comrade can be used in polite company?

Joe( What do you mean what do I mean by that?)Nation

Call me an anal-retentive reactionary, some do, but I do not like what our American friends have done to some perfectly useful words, like dame, or gay, or comrade, or liberal, or even presently. And momentarily. These meanings have changed, or hitherto absent connotations have been added.

I wouldn't call you a McAnal McRetentive M-cractionary but clearly McAmerican is not your first McLanguage is it McMcTag?

And since you ask
Jacobs Creek Grenache shiraz.

Let me count the ways...

Nice. Predictable, but nice.

I have a Crozes Hermitage 99 on the table. The largest appelation in the area, but nonethelesh, some creditable winesh.

You dirnk wine to remember, spirits to forget...

It's intersting that, as a Yank, I agree with you, Mc. I especially agree with the point you make about "presently." To me, it always meant "soon" or "in due course of time". Now, it seems, it's being used as a synonim for "at present," which, in my opinion, is not only atrocious, but downright sloppy.