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Author: John DeanJohn Dean
Date: Jun 8, 2010 12:50
"Drudg'd, Disturb'd, Rebuk't, Fledg'd . . . by leaving out a Vowel to save
a Syllable, we form so jarring a Sound, and so difficult to utter, that I
have often wondered how it could ever obtain."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jun/07/folly-of-embalming-english-languag...
http://tinyurl.com/39xkssc
"...the Queen's English Society is to set up an Academy of English. It will
pronounce on correct usage and protect the language from innovations and
corruptions. Surely anyone who has privately lamented rogue apostrophes, the
use of "disinterested" to mean "uninterested", or the demise of the
subjunctive, will feel a little happier?" --
John Dean
Oxford
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Author: Stan BrownStan Brown
Date: Jun 8, 2010 12:37
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 10:27:20 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
>
> Hello All!
>
> Here's another question: I believe it is "Reggio Parmegiane" cheese when
> made in its home but how do you pronounce "Parmesan" (spelt that way)?
PAR-m@-zahn
First syllable as in Parma, third syllable with the vowel of father.
Of course, I don't pronounce it often because I prefer Romano.
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Author: Stan BrownStan Brown
Date: Jun 8, 2010 12:31
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 08:09:06 -0400, Stan Brown wrote:
> Didn't they make yet another error in their apology for the errors.
> I think one can detract from, and one can distract attention from,
> but can one "detract attention"?
Thanks, Evan and Omrud!
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Author: Stan BrownStan Brown
Date: Jun 8, 2010 12:30
On Mon, 7 Jun 2010 12:45:04 -0400, Maria Conlon wrote:
>
> Stan Brown wrote:
>> Maria Conlon wrote:
>
>>> The Subject Line -- "I am a bit prejudice" -- was picked up from a
>>> comment submitted to an online publication.
>>>
>>> The reason I mention this is that I've seen the same spelling (that
>>> is, sans an ending "d") several times in other online publications.
>>>
>>> Any theories as to why/how this erroneous adjectival spelling came
>>> about? (I have one theory, but I won't prejudice anyone by
>>> mentioning it now.)
>>
>> I think it's from people who spell by ear, with no real concept of
>> the written word. A lot of my students write "bias sample" instead
>> of "biased sample".
>
> Interesting, in that the term is nearly (or even exactly?) correct: ...
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Author: Marius HancuMarius Hancu
Date: Jun 8, 2010 11:58
Hello:
I'm of two minds whether
"but not so thick ice"
would also work here.
---
It's December, so ice has started to form on the pond, but not such
thick ice.
The wind-up bird chronicle, p. 592
By Haruki Murakami, Tr. Jay Rubin
----
---
Thanks.
Marius Hancu
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Author: annilyannily
Date: Jun 8, 2010 09:18
Peter Moylan wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>> Hello All!
>>
>> Here's another question: I believe it is "Reggio Parmegiane" cheese when
>> made in its home but how do you pronounce "Parmesan" (spelt that way)?
>> I've heard "parmejan" and also other variants on the
>> unaccented vowels and the [dS] affricate as well as the common
>> "parmayzan" or , which is what I use when buying the
>> American-made version.
>>
>> My apologies for any errors in the ASCII IPA. My Outlook Express is
>> confused by the @ sign.
>>> I say [pAr m@s @n]. The [r] is intrusive, I'll admit. I blame that on my
> time spent in the USA.
>
Much the same for me, although more like "z" than "s".
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Author: Steve HayesSteve Hayes
Date: Jun 8, 2010 05:33
On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:13:39 -0400, DanS.
sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>It has taken on too negative a meaning. I mean, by definition it just
>means someone who's made their mind up about a subject concerning what
>is tolerable and intolerable socially (and often politically). There's
>nothing inherently wrong with this, but the descriptive term makes it
>seem that way.
My mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts.
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Author: Steve HayesSteve Hayes
Date: Jun 8, 2010 05:30
On Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:53:18 +0100, the Omrud gmail.com> wrote:
>So, there's no point in getting your stuff proof read if your own staff
>are going to change it afterwards.
I once contributed a chapter to a book where the editor called me several
times to confirm the spelling and vocabulary I had used. He was particularly
concerned with my use of "independent" and "initiated". I thought this would
be one book with minimal typos. Unfortunately all his good work was undone by
someone -- I think he himself -- going through it with a search and replace,
and changing every instance of "independent" to "initiated" regardless of
context, even in titles of books in the bibliography. The result was such a
garbled mess that I am reluctant to acknowledge that I was the author.
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Author: Maria ConlonMaria Conlon
Date: Jun 8, 2010 05:26
Peter Moylan wrote:
> the Omrud wrote:
>> Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> Robert Bannister wrote:
>>>
>>>> All I know is that a friend of mine, now sadly dead, made a
>>>> concrete boat and sailed it from here in Perth to Queensland
>>>> without mishap, although he did get divorced not long afterwards.
>>>> Dunno if divorce and concrete are related.
>>>>
>>> A former brother-in-law of mine was divorced after moving from
>>> Perth to Queensland. His partner, my sister, remained in Perth and
>>> is now happily married to someone else.
>>>
>>> Concrete was not involved.
>>
>> I have never moved from Perth to Queenland and have consequentially
>> remained married for 26 years.
>>
> The best I've managed so far is 22 years. In my next marriage, if ...
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Author: Ben YalowBen Yalow
Date: Jun 8, 2010 04:55
>>
>> Wow, and just seen the latest scorecard. Bangladesh 39-6 chasing 203
>> deficit. They've lost two more wickets in the time it took me to come
>> upstairs, start my computer and type this.
>Incidentally, that game finished just before four yesterday afternoon.
>The game had been scheduled to run five days, but finished a couple of
>hours short of the end of the third day.
>I was thinking there's no equivalent of that in baseball. No timed games.
>You wouldn't play for three hours (say) and if both sides hadn't played
>nine innings then declare it a draw.
>But then it occurs to me that those people who bought tickets in advance
>for the fourth and fifth days plays must now be getting a refund. And I
>suppose an analogous position is a world series being won on a four game
>sweep. When do tickets for the fifth, sixth and seventh games in a world
>series go on sale?
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