RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 4, 2011 One phrase which should be banned is "The layout is almost finished". We all know it's never finished - not even "almost". From the world of Colemanballs comes this gem from cricket commentary: "The batsman's Holding, the bowler's Willey". And on the conundrum of "train station" remember that we go there to catch a "railway train" while at a bus station we, correctly, catch an "omnibus". The bus station is the place at which buses stop, the railway station is the place at which railway trains stop. On my desk I have a work station ................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 What about the words that are being dropped, like Thousand, Hundred and Pounds from tv and radio adverts. You can buy a Sofa for only three nine nine! Three nine nine what? Pieces of bog roll? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Someone on 5live today used the phrase "It's a big ask for him to medal". Since when was medal a verb? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 4, 2011 Confusing meddle and medal? One is a verb and the other a noun. The same expression "to medal" is regularly heard on tv sports shows here in Oz. That is meddling with the language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagrizz Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 No I wasn't confusing medal and meddle. The word 'medal' was used in the context of an athlete winning a meddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohmisterporter Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Two of my biggest dislikes, unfortunately seen regularly on this forum among others, are : - "Dons tin hat and ducks for cover" and "Methinks" I know I am probably guilty of writing other people's dislikes so there is an element of stone throwing in glass houses here. Geoff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2011 Since when was medal a verb? It's one of the great features of the English language that you can use almost any noun as a verb. Sometimes it sounds ok ("fence the area off") and sometimes it sounds odd ("helicopter him to safety"), but generally you can do it with any noun. Of course the meaning isn't always clear. I would read "to medal" meaning to apply a medallion to something or to give someone a medal, not to receive it. Interesting is the difference between "license your car" and "licence your car" with s or c. License is a verb and "license your car" means to obtain and pay for the tax disc. Licence is a noun and "licence your car" means to physically attach the tax disc (licence) to it. Martin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted September 4, 2011 Author Share Posted September 4, 2011 Someone on 5live today used the phrase "It's a big ask for him to medal". Since when was medal a verb? There I was thinking I'd heard it all. Now I believe that I have. I'm assuming 5live is one of those low budget, community involvement stations? Init? Two of my biggest dislikes, unfortunately seen regularly on this forum among others, are : - "Dons tin hat and ducks for cover" and "Methinks" I know I am probably guilty of writing other people's dislikes so there is an element of stone throwing in glass houses here. Geoff. I'm too frequently guilty of the latter, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 An outbreak of honesty might be fun. No point hoping for the record to be broken in this event, all the effective performance enhancing drugs are now detectable. The judges have already decided on the medal places, so unless someone actually falls over during the event bronze goes to... Ten minutes into the group flopping about in a pool contest, and most of the spectators are asleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padishar Creel Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 My pet hates (also a phrase which I hate, but as you've just read I'm guilty!) and not connected to sport saying "Did you get my eMail" instead of saying "Hallo" Happy Holidays N-Scale instead of N-Gauge OO-gauge instead of 00-gauge And verbosity such as "aesthetically pleasing" and "at this moment in time" Otherwise I also am guiltyof using methinks And wasn't there a great Colemanball of "Juanterino opening his legs and showing his style" or something similar? jgp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padishar Creel Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 and I've just seen another and hopefully the moderators will forgive me for this "Unfollow this topic"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 4, 2011 I cringe (and indeed inside scream in horror) if anyone says we 'must touch base' on a particular issue. 'Thinking outside the box' is another awful phrase. I once quipped many years ago that if anyone in my department thinks outside the box on company time, they will find themselves thinking outside a Job Centre... Also one that seems popular with a certain railway author and is trotted out in every locomotive book and magazine article he writes 'The Game of the Name'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 instead of saying "Hallo" This one got me as I thought it was something Simon Templot wore. Hello means goodby or hi......Mmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold martin_wynne Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2011 How about some phrases worth using? I'm fond of "In due course." It sounds so wonderfully positive without committing you to anything at all. And you can defeat almost any argument with a good "furthermore" or two. Wonderful word. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 However, furthermore, in addition, besides, moreover, nonetheless, on the other hand, nevertheless, conversely, but......Isn't the english language wonderful............... And one of the few things left that is English, not British. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 The English language has been evolving for centuries. I never forgot a series on PBS called "The Story of English" hosted by Robert McNeil. This was nearly 30 years now I suppose, but it was fascinating (to me). The phrase that really gets my hackles up is "The proof is in the pudding" - aaarghhh! I hear TV commentators using this all the time. Of couse, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". The other thing that annoys me is the glib use of "decimate" to signify that something has been (nearly) destroyed. It was a Roman concept to instill discipline. Any legion or, I suppose, other unit that ran from a battle was sentenced to be "decimated". That is, one soldier in ten was chosen by lot and then killed by his own mates - yikes! This could be an example of the evolution of English where the meaning of a word has been changed over the years to mean something else, like "gay". If I want a bit of fun at Christmas (not Holidays!) time I will pronouce to the family on Christmas Eve that "now we don our gay apparel", from the popular song. For my mum its a signal to go on her rant about how the word gay has been perverted and so on. Very entertaining. John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 the word gay has been perverted There will always be people who take things the wrong way... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 There will always be people who take things the wrong way... Especially my mum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thos Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 1. The reason why. 2. The use of billion for the perfectly good Anglo-French 'milliard'. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel Dayz Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Female Thespians being called actors. Are there no longer any actresses? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted September 4, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 4, 2011 Female Thespians being called actors. Are there no longer any actresses? Have you seen Vanessa Redgrave lately? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 "Absolutely" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJS1977 Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 Female Thespians being called actors. Are there no longer any actresses? Reminds me of the time I heard Graham Norton on "Just a Minute" talking about "How to Become a Thespian". He started off saying something like "If you want to become a thespian, you have to wear baggy cardigans and listen to kd lang CDs," then on being challenged said he'd misheard the question! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thos Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 "Literally" when used for emphasis rather than, well, literally. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 4, 2011 Share Posted September 4, 2011 "First up" "One time" - it's "once", FFS. "Bro". Off of Closely followed by - must of - should of - would of - could of 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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