'Decimated' used as if it meant 'totally destroyed'.
''Fortuitous' used as if it was synonymous with 'fortunate'
...but I realise I'm getting into mere pedantry.
In a Dr Who episode the Master as John Saxon instructed his robotic allies to decimate Earth's population and added "Kill one in ten" which earned the script writer plaudits from pedants all over the world. Well, nine in ten of them, anyway.
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
We don't have mayors in Scotland, but I always assumed that "mayor" was pronounced as per its spelling - "may-or." Doesn't it come from the Latin maior or major, which has a "y" sound?
Legacy. Far from being a generous gift from a deceased, loving admirer, it can now mean an old software program that the producer wishes you wouldn't use, or, as I just read in a news release from Boeing, it can be a legacy platform, meaning an old plane.
I think our railway system has plenty of legacy platforms!
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
We don't have mayors in Scotland, but I always assumed that "mayor" was pronounced as per its spelling - "may-or." Doesn't it come from the Latin maior or major, which has a "y" sound?
Some might have a subtle two syllable usage, though I would typically say it is homophone for 'mare'.
I assumed it (may-or) was an Americanism, used by Brit broadcasters to sound cool. I have live in different parts of England including Merseyside and Yorkshire both of which have strong local accents. But have never heard mayor pronounced in the UK with two syllables until locally elected City mayors were introduced and now it's only by TV types, not by normal folks.
Legacy. Far from being a generous gift from a deceased, loving admirer, it can now mean an old software program that the producer wishes you wouldn't use, or, as I just read in a news release from Boeing, it can be a legacy platform, meaning an old plane.
I think our railway system has plenty of legacy platforms!
Those are the ones at which the doors of the rear coaches don't open, right?
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
Context will have to do. Mind you, in Alaska as Comet mentioned, there was Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna who was a cat, so confusion is possible.
A word I used to hate but which I now find amusing and even a little enlightening is "irregardless". It used to annoy me because "regardless" already means "without regard to" so what to make of the "less" suffix? Seemingly it would cancel out the prefix "ir".
What changed my mind about this was learning that in some cultures the effect of additional modifiers would not toggle between assertion and denying but rather just add emphasis. Seen in that light a change in grammatical norms makes it seem more like alternative geometries. Change the rules and the logic changes too.
As an aside on pronunciation - and I agree with @Alan29 on the pronunciation of 'mayor' even in Northern England - I was tickled by the Alan Bennett anecdote about a conversation in a country churchyard in the Cotswolds, I think.
A very posh lady told him they were having problems with the 'myrrh'.
He was puzzled as the church didn't look very 'bells and smells.'
He gradually realised she'd told him this to explain why the grass was so long.
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
Context will have to do. Mind you, in Alaska as Comet mentioned, there was Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna who was a cat, so confusion is possible.
Patrick the pony is the mayor of cockington - a nearby village
The French sègue, or now more commonly, segue, in English means (Cambridge Dictionary) "to move easily and without interruption from one piece of music, part of a story, subject, or situation to another". It is a useful word in many contexts. Its corruption from a simple and elegant word into the ugly 'segway' annoys me intensely and I react badly when I hear it. But everyone uses it. I admit defeat.
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
Context will have to do. Mind you, in Alaska as Comet mentioned, there was Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna who was a cat, so confusion is possible.
Patrick the pony is the mayor of cockington - a nearby village
Is that the Cockington near Paignton, with the quality cricket ground in a grassy bowl?
Oh dear. I use that rather a lot when addressing a mixed crowd of people, when nothing else really seems to be very appropriate. It seems to be quite a common neutral kind of thing to say in this part of the world.
Can't think of any words I actually hate. But I get stupidly het up about the wrong use of 'bought', when 'brought' is meant eg, I bought him along with me to the party.
And the now ubiquitous 'of' instead of 'have'. I would of given anything to see the look on his face.
Yes, also the ones which involve a big step-up to reach the train.
Are there still any wooden platforms on Network Rail?
I’m sure the platform at Berney Arms in Norfolk is wooden. Berrylands station (SW London) is currently closed so that the wooden platforms can be replaced. Other stations have even had platforms replaced with wooden ones.
I recently had to read a document that opened with words telling me that "by the end of this course you will have learned...". No I won't. I may have had information on the topic delivered to me by someone who doesn't care and won't test me, but whether or not I will have learnt anything is unknowable at the beginning. (Is 'unknowable' a bad word? I think it may be).
I felt the same when 'learning outcomes' appeared in requirements for writing course documentation, when I used to teach. Previously, there was a syllabus, and we assessed students at the end of a module to find out how well they had assimilated the material. At least, that's what I thought I was trying to do. Perhaps the intro document you object to originated in this kind of 'quality'-control blurb - stuff like that has a habit of retrojectively inserting itself into the thing it is meant to be controlling, wherein it is meant to work as a kind of talisman against people who inspect that kind of thing.
I have a disdain for 'workshop' where nothing concrete is actually made and hands don't get dirty. For example, 'Theological Workshop' where the only handicraft is waving 'em about. 'Dance Workshop' is just about OK, perhaps.
'Solutions'. Insofar as any meaning can be discerned, it equates to 'the stuff we do', eg We are not just a big lorry delivering widgets, we are a Logistics Solution.
And the now ubiquitous 'of' instead of 'have'. I would of given anything to see the look on his face.
I dislike "inside of/outside of" where the "of" is redundant.
I also dislike weather forecasters telling us that a weather front is "sinking down" from north to south, or that temperatures will be "falling away" during the night.
I first heard "coronated" instead of "crowned" when Charles took over. I am now hearing it again with Andy Burnham. Is this a new thing?
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
Context will have to do. Mind you, in Alaska as Comet mentioned, there was Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna who was a cat, so confusion is possible.
Patrick the pony is the mayor of cockington - a nearby village
Is that the Cockington near Paignton, with the quality cricket ground in a grassy bowl?
Near a lovely pub designed by lutens (or however you spell it) - why yes
A word that would drive me crazy when my MIL was alive was "Awful." She used it to describe something which was not quite right. In her mind, there were many things that were not quite right.
One that I heard yet again today that really irritates me is 'from the get-go'. Why? What's wrong with 'start' or 'beginning'?
It always seems to be used by people who are middle aged or older but who clearly think it makes them sound cool. It doesn't.
I think it may come from a sport of some sort, but if so, it is one I have never encountered and I do not think they have either. I suspect, if that is the source, it is a sport that is not played here.
One that I heard yet again today that really irritates me is 'from the get-go'. Why? What's wrong with 'start' or 'beginning'?
It always seems to be used by people who are middle aged or older but who clearly think it makes them sound cool. It doesn't.
I think it may come from a sport of some sort, but if so, it is one I have never encountered and I do not think they have either. I suspect, if that is the source, it is a sport that is not played here.
I just take as meaning "from when we/it/you get going"
A sales organisation which I suspect we are all aware of is in the middle of a particular push to get rid of the crap it can't sell and calls it Prime Day even though it lasts nearly a week. Messages like "Prime Day ends at midnight tomorrow" irritate me.
Forward planning. As I don’t have access to a TARDIS, it’s the only kind I can do.
Even worse, 'pre-order' and 'pre-plan' which seem to be everywhere now.
I'm Ok with pre-order. Typically, to order something is to make a purchase of something that is already available, but may take some time to deliver, whereas to pre-order is to commit to a purchase for something that isn't yet available. An example of which would be the sales of Grand Theft Auto VI which one could pre-order this week but won't be available until November.
One that I heard yet again today that really irritates me is 'from the get-go'. Why? What's wrong with 'start' or 'beginning'?
It always seems to be used by people who are middle aged or older but who clearly think it makes them sound cool. It doesn't.
I think it may come from a sport of some sort, but if so, it is one I have never encountered and I do not think they have either. I suspect, if that is the source, it is a sport that is not played here.
You mean baseball?
If it is an American-ism, which it might well be, it's not as if we haven't got irritating home-grown expressions.
I hate 'rellies' for relatives and 'Chrimbo' for Christmas both of which are home-grown I think.
I hate 'rellies' for relatives and 'Chrimbo' for Christmas both of which are home-grown I think.
I think Chrimbo is an Australian-ism. It fits with a pattern of unnecessary shortening words and ending them with 'o'. Convo for conversation and arvo for afternoon are terms I have sighed at many a time, when spoken by Australian colleagues.
I hate 'rellies' for relatives and 'Chrimbo' for Christmas both of which are home-grown I think.
I think Chrimbo is an Australian-ism. It fits with a pattern of unnecessary shortening words and ending them with 'o'. Convo for conversation and arvo for afternoon are terms I have sighed at many a time, when spoken by Australian colleagues.
Chrimbo? This Antipodean has never heard of it. Chrissie, yes. Rellies? Yes, if working in health for 46 years “ have rellies been notified? “ Or else in nursing notes :“ visited by rellies” ( or else “rellos”)
One that I heard yet again today that really irritates me is 'from the get-go'. Why? What's wrong with 'start' or 'beginning'?
It always seems to be used by people who are middle aged or older but who clearly think it makes them sound cool. It doesn't.
I think it may come from a sport of some sort, but if so, it is one I have never encountered and I do not think they have either. I suspect, if that is the source, it is a sport that is not played here.
“From the get-go” has its origins in African American Vernacular English. As @KarlLB has said, it probably derives from “getting going.” I’ve certainly been hearing and saying it all my life; it’s normal conversational speech here, and has been for a long time.
As for “what’s wrong with ‘start’ or ‘beginning’?,” why stop there? Why say “start” when we have a perfectly good word in “beginning”?
Surely, one of the strengths of English is that it contains numerous words and phrases that mean essentially the same thing but that convey different shades of meaning, tones, levels of formality, humor or seriousness, etc.
Meanwhile, I’ve been reminded this week how my skin crawls just a little when motion is used as a verb in a parliamentary procedure context, as in “I motion that we adjourn.”
Comments
I cheered.
While on politics, that BBC seems to have forgotten how to pronounce mayor and mayoral. I have always heard and said "mair" and "mairal." But it would seem that an extra syllable is now required "may-or" and "may-or-al." Ugly and clumsy.
Is there still a BBC pronunciation unit?
Surely you have to distinguish between a civic leader and a female horse?
Some might have a subtle two syllable usage, though I would typically say it is homophone for 'mare'.
Are there still any wooden platforms on Network Rail?
Context will have to do. Mind you, in Alaska as Comet mentioned, there was Mayor Stubbs of Talkeetna who was a cat, so confusion is possible.
What changed my mind about this was learning that in some cultures the effect of additional modifiers would not toggle between assertion and denying but rather just add emphasis. Seen in that light a change in grammatical norms makes it seem more like alternative geometries. Change the rules and the logic changes too.
A very posh lady told him they were having problems with the 'myrrh'.
He was puzzled as the church didn't look very 'bells and smells.'
He gradually realised she'd told him this to explain why the grass was so long.
A rule invented by an 18th C grammatian based not on observed usage in the corpus but solely on his personal preference. He can swivel.
Patrick the pony is the mayor of cockington - a nearby village
The first time I saw one with the name on it a little part of me died inside.
Is that the Cockington near Paignton, with the quality cricket ground in a grassy bowl?
Oh dear. I use that rather a lot when addressing a mixed crowd of people, when nothing else really seems to be very appropriate. It seems to be quite a common neutral kind of thing to say in this part of the world.
Can't think of any words I actually hate. But I get stupidly het up about the wrong use of 'bought', when 'brought' is meant eg, I bought him along with me to the party.
And the now ubiquitous 'of' instead of 'have'. I would of given anything to see the look on his face.
I’m sure the platform at Berney Arms in Norfolk is wooden. Berrylands station (SW London) is currently closed so that the wooden platforms can be replaced. Other stations have even had platforms replaced with wooden ones.
I felt the same when 'learning outcomes' appeared in requirements for writing course documentation, when I used to teach. Previously, there was a syllabus, and we assessed students at the end of a module to find out how well they had assimilated the material. At least, that's what I thought I was trying to do. Perhaps the intro document you object to originated in this kind of 'quality'-control blurb - stuff like that has a habit of retrojectively inserting itself into the thing it is meant to be controlling, wherein it is meant to work as a kind of talisman against people who inspect that kind of thing.
They're not made anyway - leastways, the gyroscopic versions aren't.
I dislike "inside of/outside of" where the "of" is redundant.
I also dislike weather forecasters telling us that a weather front is "sinking down" from north to south, or that temperatures will be "falling away" during the night.
Near a lovely pub designed by lutens (or however you spell it) - why yes
Even worse, 'pre-order' and 'pre-plan' which seem to be everywhere now.
It always seems to be used by people who are middle aged or older but who clearly think it makes them sound cool. It doesn't.
I think it may come from a sport of some sort, but if so, it is one I have never encountered and I do not think they have either. I suspect, if that is the source, it is a sport that is not played here.
I just take as meaning "from when we/it/you get going"
I'm Ok with pre-order. Typically, to order something is to make a purchase of something that is already available, but may take some time to deliver, whereas to pre-order is to commit to a purchase for something that isn't yet available. An example of which would be the sales of Grand Theft Auto VI which one could pre-order this week but won't be available until November.
You mean baseball?
If it is an American-ism, which it might well be, it's not as if we haven't got irritating home-grown expressions.
I hate 'rellies' for relatives and 'Chrimbo' for Christmas both of which are home-grown I think.
And I will be happy to never hear “hubby” again 🤮
Chrimbo? This Antipodean has never heard of it. Chrissie, yes. Rellies? Yes, if working in health for 46 years “ have rellies been notified? “ Or else in nursing notes :“ visited by rellies” ( or else “rellos”)
As for “what’s wrong with ‘start’ or ‘beginning’?,” why stop there? Why say “start” when we have a perfectly good word in “beginning”?
Surely, one of the strengths of English is that it contains numerous words and phrases that mean essentially the same thing but that convey different shades of meaning, tones, levels of formality, humor or seriousness, etc.
Meanwhile, I’ve been reminded this week how my skin crawls just a little when motion is used as a verb in a parliamentary procedure context, as in “I motion that we adjourn.”
I've not heard these terms used ashore and always try to type them in full.
I may have used 'Ortho' a few times.
That might be useful in terms like 'Ortho-bro' that should generally only be used in Hell.
I've used ortho a few times. It's an abbreviation for orthochromatic, in the sense of photographic film.
Aren’t they the silent majority too?