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".
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!
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.
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 ARNTIn 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"??
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
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.
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".
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".
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.
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.
Posts: 2605 | Location: As they say at 101.5FM: Not New York... Not Philadelphia... PROUD TO BE NEW JERSEY!
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.
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!
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.
