The dis- game

July 14, 2017, 18:58

Greg S

The dis- game

quote:
OFF OF - You don't jump, or break OFF OF something, you simply jump or break OFF it. How did this even creep into American English and eventually become accepted as the norm, it makes zero sense grammatically??

"OFF FROM" I could get used to, and maybe it wouldn't even make me angry, at least there would be some logic behind its usage, but "OFF OF" is complete and utter BS. Annoys me even more than "would of", "should of" & "could of".

July 14, 2017, 19:11

Greg S

devoid - make whole, valid or full again
devote - tear up your ballot paper, OR (surely this one will make some of you laugh) Add another Limerick to the Poll!

July 15, 2017, 10:31

Geoff

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Greg S:

AUNT[b] - My mother's sister is not an insect (ANT), she should be my AWNT by the spelling, but in Australia and probably England (where the language oddly enough actually comes from) she is our [b]ARNT The pronunciation of "aunt" is regional in the USA. Some say, "ahnt," some say "ant," as you know, and many say, "tia" until they learn Amerracun.

ALUMINIUM - Why do Americans think the 2nd "I" is silent - IT ISN'T[/b] We spell it differently, and pronounce is differently as a result It's "aluminum" to us, but my late ex-father-in-law said, "aLOONYum"

NUCLEAR - How the F... do Americans turn this into NUCULAR - it defies comprehension[/b]

Agreed. Only the most erudite seem to get it right, with one exception: Me.

July 15, 2017, 18:20

<Proofreader>

deceit: remove from office
denoted: blank sheet music

July 16, 2017, 17:36

Geoff

DENY Leave Manhattan or tell Bill the Science Guy he's wrong.

DECANTER Slow the horse to a walk

DERELICT Proved it's not an ancient artifact

That reminds me of how scientists have found various gases in ancient glacial ice, including methane. Does that make it a fartifact?

July 21, 2017, 19:18

bethree5

quote:
Originally posted by Greg S:

AUNT - My mother's sister is not an insect (ANT), she should be my AWNT by the spelling, but in Australia and probably England (where the language oddly enough actually comes from) she is our ARNT In New England, it's "ahnt"

ALUMINIUM - Why do Americans think the 2nd "I" is silent - IT ISN'T. Silly, there is no second i in aluminum.

NUCLEAR - How the F... do Americans turn this into NUCULAR - it defies comprehension. My theory: Americans in some regional dialects just find "cl" impossible to pronounc, so they re-insert a nearby vowel. Kind of like the way so many Spanish words ended up w/a functionless "e" in front of the "s" that starts other Latin-dialect words [echoed in French w/"é"]. Something to do w/the habitual mouth-position in the dialect.

OFF OF - You don't jump, or break OFF OF something, you simply jump or break OFF it. How did this even creep into American English and eventually become accepted as the norm, it makes zero sense grammatically?? Agree! Corollary: now that millenniels haved decided "based on" should be replaced by "based off" (ear-grating), we have the charming "based off of"! (Ear-shredding)

There are many more but they're the 4 that really make my blood boil. Please excuse my rant, but I really would love to know how these came to be accepted as not only the norm, but accepted as "CORRECT"??

July 23, 2017, 02:25

Greg S

Thanks Geoff & Bethree for your feedback. I knew they had changed the spelling of a lot of words in the US (eg. dropping the U from words like colour and favour), but never realised that they had also changed the spelling of one of Elements of the Periodic Table? I guess I'll have to forgive them for pronouncing it the way they spell it, but now I am intrigued - did they drop the I preceding the UM, in the other 50+ elements that end in -IUM (Like barium, radium, uranium, plutonium etc)? If not, why not, and why then change the spelling of Aluminium only?

And as for "based off of" that is most definitely ear-shredding, reminds me of another one I came across recently - "mightn't of".

I was kind of hoping one of you might have told me that NUCULAR was just a George-W-ism, and that most of the rest of America pronounces it properly.

July 23, 2017, 06:06

<Proofreader>

quote:
I was kind of hoping one of you might have told me that NUCULAR was just a George-W-ism, and that most of the rest of America pronounces it properly

I think it's Southern regional. President Carter was a leading exponent of that pron, and he served on a nuclear sub.

In my many years here I beiieve I ca count on my fingers the tines anyone used "mightn't" and none with "of" appended. Others may vary.

July 24, 2017, 01:03

Greg S

quote:
"mightn't" and none with "of" appended

I would actually be quite surprised if you haven't heard it, unless you don't have much interaction with young folk these days. When they say it they are trying to say, "might not have" which they think is "might not of".

July 24, 2017, 05:41

<Proofreader>

quote:
"mightn't" and none with "of" appended

I would actually be quite surprised if you haven't heard it, unless you don't have much interaction with young folk these days. When they say it they are trying to say, "might not have" which they think is "might not of".

Of course you are part of UK.
Kids here are likely to say "may not have" or "may not of".

July 25, 2017, 14:40

Geoff

I suspect that "of" is originally a mondegreen of "might've" that became accepted as correct by many.

July 25, 2017, 15:21

<Proofreader>

quote:
I suspect that "of" is originally a mondegreen

Mondegreens are great in a Caesar salad.

July 26, 2017, 09:01

<Proofreader>

Is the Iberian peninsular where animals go to ibernate?

What celebrity worked in a bank? Teller Savalas.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Proofreader>,

July 27, 2017, 10:43

Geoff

quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:

Mondegreens are great in a Caesar salad.

But never on sundaes.

August 07, 2017, 11:25

<Proofreader>

disrupt: a volcano collapses

August 09, 2017, 11:04

<Proofreader>

Disraeli: an ati-Semite

August 13, 2017, 05:41

<Proofreader>

dapple: that fruit

August 13, 2017, 16:14

Geoff

quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:
Disraeli: an ati-Semite

Huh? Disraeli was Jewish. He didn't want to admit it, though.

August 14, 2017, 08:41

<Proofreader>

quote:
quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:
Disraeli: an ati-Semite
Huh? Disraeli was Jewish. He didn't want to admit it, though.

I should have made it l/c D, to make it generic. I didn't intend to specifically refer to Ben (as only his friends referred to him).

August 27, 2017, 14:30

<Proofreader>

From comedian/actor/writer Phil Proctor's newsletter:

DAFFYNITIONS

CHICKENS … The only animal you eat before they are born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE … A body that keeps minutes and wastes
hours.
DUST … Mud with the juice squeezed out.
EGOTIST … Someone who is usually me-deep in
conversation.
HANDKERCHIEF… Cold Storage.
INFLATION… Cutting money in half without
damaging the paper.
MOSQUITO… An insect that makes you like flies
better.
RAISIN… A grape with a sunburn.
SECRET… A story you tell to one person at a time.
SKELETON… A bunch of bones with the person
scraped off.
TOOTHACHE… The pain that drives you to
extraction.
TOMORROW… One of the greatest labor saving
devices of today.
YAWN… An honest opinion openly expressed.
WRINKLES… Something other people have, similar to your character lines.

September 01, 2017, 20:27

<Proofreader>

Heard a funny one on TV:

A logarthym: Lumberjack birth control

Also:

Best birth control: An hour with the kids before bed

September 27, 2017, 12:30

<Proofreader>

Slighly off-point but it must be said:

Toro Snowblower: a cross between a bull and a gay Eskimo

October 03, 2017, 16:32

<Proofreader>

Learned a new word today:

Nillionaire: Someone either very broke or excessively in debt.

October 04, 2017, 06:19

bethree5

quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:
Slighly off-point but it must be said:

Toro Snowblower: a cross between a bull and a gay Eskimo

October 04, 2017, 06:23

bethree5

quote:
Originally posted by Proofreader:
Learned a new word today:

Nillionaire: Someone either very broke or excessively in debt.

Nice! I'm a member of the nilitary, as I favor deep cuts to the defense budget... And I never wear hats, I'm a nilliner.

October 04, 2017, 06:26

bethree5

Wiki says "It was discovered that Millennials... are less likely to strongly identify with the generational term... with only 40% of those born between 1981 and 1997 identifying as part of the Millennial Generation."
Guess they're Nillennials.

October 04, 2017, 15:17

<Proofreader>

Good news fr older male patients....the're now given large doses of Viagra to prevent them from rolling out of bed...or perhaps for use as a handle to turn them over.

October 11, 2017, 15:18

<Proofreader>

coitus interruptus: Peetering on the brink.

October 28, 2017, 17:28

haberdasher

Or perhaps the autological

COITUS INTERRUPTUS - fornicatio

October 29, 2017, 14:02

Geoff

DISSIPATE Lost one's head

I was worried about the possibliity of Haberdasherus interruptus! Where' ya been Hab? You ignored my non-place name, non- poll limerick round - and I missed having a limerick from you!

November 05, 2017, 09:39

haberdasher

MYSTIFIED - had a spat with a young lady; refused to do as she instructed

November 08, 2017, 16:17

<Proofreader>

Feuhrious: Hitlers pissed

December 18, 2017, 17:40

Geoff

MISOGYNIST One who serves Japanese soup only to women.

December 30, 2017, 16:57

haberdasher

DETACH - slow down

December 30, 2017, 17:03

haberdasher

FLANDERS - those who flunk their piloting solo flight test on the last maneuver

December 30, 2017, 17:04

haberdasher

PETITION - I guess H+ is about as small as they get...

December 31, 2017, 14:03

Geoff

You remind me of the subatomic cattle, the moo meson and the cow pi meson.

BTW, speaking of hydrogen, why do the folks at Lawrence Livermore or less Labs refer to their laser fusion experiment facility as the Nation Ignition Facility? I can't understand how a fusion reaction sans oxidation is ignition.