Don't put me on a pedal stool

[j1979]

So, a couple of months back i was mildly forum shamed for saying that a point was "mute" and not "moot".

Which lead back to the IT crowd episode where Jen uses the phrase "pedal stool" not "pedestal"

Since then i'vé made a point to call it a mute point, (a point that has no voice) because i'm stubborn, somewhat arrogant and isn't language supposed to evolve? The way we pronounce words, the words we use and the phrases we use.

I thought it would be a nice little thread, away from politcis to discuss it and send links of glaring errors like mine. The idea came from reading this link today. In the second paragraph, if it wasn't bad enough saying the "worst men in Bosnia" (that's the only politics in the thead hopefully), the writer goes on to say..

"train of events"

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/break-uk-c...084018131.html

I guess it could be a train of events, but i always thought and said chain of events, because that made more sense in my mind. The error is obviously not a spelling problem.

Is it train or chain or both? And does anyone have other examples to post?

[Ttaskmaster]

No, language is not supposed to evolve. The fact that is does is actually quite saddening...
Society has gone to all the trouble of creating a veritable bevy of words and terms, some with only slightly different meaning, in order to convey very precise communication... Why then would anyone want to obfuscate that level of clarity by changing the meanings of words and muddling phrases to mean something different?

[[GSV]Trig]

Hmm, I always thought it was chain of events too..

How about deja vu, saw it on the forums today as de-ja-vu...

[g8ina]

We had a few of these when I was working with the Jake Thackray project back in 2001. Pedants became pendants, but thats the only one I can remember

The other big one is Splitting Image, which until the TV show, was spitting image (Ive also heard "He is like the spit out of his mouth" referring to son looking like father etc)

[ik9000]

Hmm, I always thought it was chain of events too..

How about deja vu, saw it on the forums today as de-ja-vu...

is that not how it's spelt? my bad!

[ik9000]

OP it could have been a train of events. Depends what was taking place at the time. But yes it should be chain of events.

[ik9000]

No, language is not supposed to evolve. The fact that is does is actually quite saddening...
Society has gone to all the trouble of creating a veritable bevy of words and terms, some with only slightly different meaning, in order to convey very precise communication... Why then would anyone want to obfuscate that level of clarity by changing the meanings of words and muddling phrases to mean something different?

Language evolves due to slang, new events/technology requiring new terms and poor education allowing slovenliness and poor spelling/grammar to go unchecked. The latter is a societal failing albeit of a minor kind compared to other social ills. The former are somewhat inevitable. The meaning of slut for example 150 years ago was just someone dirty and unkempt. Slang usage had brought it to its modern more common definition. That kind of evolution is always going to occur. What I can't get on board with is the dilution of good grammar and spelling where its and it's aren't properly taught, nor it would seem practice and practise, effect and affect, except and accept, their, there and they're (I typo these often - I blame my phone), licence and license and so on. None of that is misheard, it's just laziness/CBA either at the teaching stage or by the end user.

[Zak33]

ooh goood subject!

(for the record its "chain" of events, as it implies a chain reaction, where one thing leads to another, ...not being dragged along a train line)

I'm gonna side step the mild profanity filter for thisone.

"I cant be arsed" is the correct phrase.
"I can't be asked" isuse the nonsense phrase recently in use


Here is one I hate being used......, because it's actually right.

"I asked him"
"I aksed him"...drives me mental but turns out to be old English and legit.

My favouirite from Viz is where things are "off of"
"It's him, off of the telly"
That now makes me laugh and not sob

[[GSV]Trig]

Here is one I hate being used......, because it's actually right.

"I asked him"
"I aksed him"...drives me mental but turns out to be old English and legit.

I don't think its being used in the same way as the Olde' English, especially as you appear to have missed the "r" that's usually there these days..
You're suggesting (phonetically) "I axed him", where the modern version seems to be "I arkxed him"..

Yes?

[g8ina]

what used to be Sixth is now sikth

[Hoonigan]

I've seen Bolognese spelled as "bolly nayz". I still use that to this day. They meant it in full seriousness.

[ik9000]

what used to be Sixth is now sikth

only in the hands of idiots.

[Zhaoman]

Good thread for Holloween! I could of never done such a thing.

Seriously though, apostrophes and "off of" or "could of" probably annoy me the most. But I see them so often that I'm not sure if they can be considered the vernacular now...

[ik9000]

Good thread for Holloween! I could of never done such a thing.

Seriously though, apostrophes and "off of" or "could of" probably annoy me the most. But I see them so often that I'm not sure if they can be considered the vernacular now...

HAVE . ffs Would have, could have, should have (got an education)

[kalniel]

"bolly nayz".

I thought that was just what horsey people said when they've had enough champers

[Kumagoro]

Not that I don't make dumb mistakes but some do get on my tits. Language of course naturally evolves but some things are worse than others. I was an adult when I finally realised go to isn't goto, I blame learning basic on a spectrum for that though.

I particularly dislike baby daddy and even more so, boy baby.

People saying for example Asdas instead of Asda is another annoyance.

Typically the dumber, lowered educated and rougher they are the more occurrences there are of such things and I think a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Another related area is foreign loan words. I personally don't want to learn a word which has the meaning completely different and or with a pronunciation completely wrong. Okay the pronunciation isn't going to be 100% but it should be as close to as our natural language allows.

The latest one which I find annoying is katsu curry. A katsu is typically a pork cutlet converted in panko breadcrumbs. But it can also be chicken, beef, minced beef, prawn and others but intrinsically it is the cutlet. Here in the UK several years ago they started selling katsu curry in supermarkets which was short grain rice with a breaded chicken cutlet with Japanese style curry sauce not right but close enough considering. This has morphed into calling a jar of curry sauce katsu curry which is just wrong and lazy and means everyone ends up learning it wrong.

It would be like calling fish sticks with crisps British chips & fish.