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Post by Little Jack Horner on Dec 5, 2018 0:47:49 GMT
Who knows? Today, 5th Decenber, in 1901, Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Laureate, was born in Würzberg in Germany. It was he who, in 1927, published the Uncertainty Principle so perhaps we can’t be sure of anything. Is it December? Was he born in 1901? Or at all? What seems more certain is that this forum is becoming moribund. Last month there were only 34 posts but 676 views. Is it too much to hope that some of these visitors might join the conversation?
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 5, 2018 7:19:22 GMT
Who knows? Today, 5th Decenber, in 1901, Werner Heisenberg, the Nobel Laureate, was born in Würzberg in Germany. It was he who, in 1927, published the Uncertainty Principle so perhaps we can’t be sure of anything. Is it December? Was he born in 1901? Or at all? What seems more certain is that this forum is becoming moribund. Last month there were only 34 posts but 676 views. Is it too much to hope that some of these visitors might join the conversation?LJH: Those figures align with my observations of the social-media generation (which includes at least a few of our age group): many viewers, few actors; much taking, little giving. (Or am I just a tad jaded with modern "society"?) It does seem to have reduced to a virtual chat room for you, Twod, and me, with occasional visits from the Daves and Paul. I've even wondered if it's worthwhile maintaining it (though I would miss it if it were gone). Thanks for posting the uncertain information above. :-) |
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 5, 2018 21:57:25 GMT
Pleaded or pled?Has US English now overtaken UK English on the BBC? Will the Beeb next start using dove for the past tense of dive?
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Post by Dave Miller on Dec 6, 2018 11:13:57 GMT
Yes, I winced at that one, too, Vv!
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Dec 7, 2018 10:14:32 GMT
I share the anguish of having to read words like “pled” instead of “pleaded” but I am not entirely sure why. It’s obviously a particularly ugly word and doesn’t sound as if it means anything but that criticism can be applied to dozens of other words (dog, cat, worm and car come to mind). Can it be that it sounds American like that other abomination “snuck” instead of sneaked? It is odd, is it not, that perfectly regularly conjugated verbs should be acquiring an irregular form.
Of course, I am happy that “read”, “bleed”, “feed” and “lead” have past participles that rhyme with “dead” and “dread” (‼️) so why not “plead” ?
I think, though, that there may be some other verbs where either the regular and irregular forms are equally acceptable, for example, dreamed and dreamt.
Question: Does my sentence above (It is odd, is it not, that perfectly regularly conjugated verbs should be acquiring an irregular form) require a question mark and, if so, where?
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 12, 2018 21:34:38 GMT
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Post by Dave Miller on Dec 13, 2018 3:03:56 GMT
Not a term which has much appeared in the UK! I suppose working at the National Dictionary Centre exposes even a Doctor to too much descriptivism: “what us outsiders see”. Really? Well, what me see, me don’t like! |
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Dec 13, 2018 7:59:39 GMT
But we do hear a great deal of the Westminster bubble. Not a new term, however. It has been in frequent use by political commentators for years, usually implying that the topic being discussed is of limited interest to the general public but fascinating to politicians and commentators.
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 13, 2018 14:07:38 GMT
Not a term which has much appeared in the UK! I suppose working at the National Dictionary Centre exposes even a Doctor to too much descriptivism: “what us outsiders see”. Really? Well, what me see, me don’t like! The NDC's Australian National Dictionary (AND) is a collaboration between the Australian National University and Oxford Dictionaries, a bunch of rather-too-liberal descriptivists-cum-modernists. Harrumph to them, I say. Our Macquarie Dictionary is liberal / modern / descriptivist enough, and it's the official national standard (it uses the Cambridge s rather than the Oxford z, for an example of its style that is distinct from the AND and Australian Oxford). Canberra bubbles exist only because of all the parliamentary hot air generated in that symbolically circular city. |
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Dec 14, 2018 18:37:53 GMT
Vv says, “ Our Macquarie Dictionary is liberal / modern / descriptivist enough, and it's the official national standard (it uses the Cambridge s rather than the Oxford z, for an example of its style that is distinct from the AND and Australian Oxford).“
I am all for the Cambridge S and deplore the Oxford Z even though I understand the Oxford rationale. However, what is the authority for saying the Macquarie is “the official national standard”? Official?
Also, Vv, did you get to drive your car at Brooklands? And what did you think of the traffic on the M25 ⁉️
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 17, 2018 3:23:41 GMT
Vv says, “ Our Macquarie Dictionary is liberal / modern / descriptivist enough, and it's the official national standard (it uses the Cambridge s rather than the Oxford z, for an example of its style that is distinct from the AND and Australian Oxford).“ I am all for the Cambridge S and deplore the Oxford Z even though I understand the Oxford rationale. However, what is the authority for saying the Macquarie is “the official national standard”? Official?Also, Vv, did you get to drive your car at Brooklands? And what did you think of the traffic on the M25 ⁉️ LJH: The Macquarie is the dictionary used, by decree, by federal government departments and those of most states here. It is that recommended by the Australian Government Publishing Service's Style Manual and state education departments. External contractors (e.g. designers / graphic artists / editors / copy writers) to the government are required to use the Macquarie as their reference standard. As for driving at Brooklands and on the M25: that has yet to happen. I've put off retiring until September '19; then I'll take off for the big Sunday drive around Europe, Britain, and Russia. As much as Brooklands and the Nurburgring are on my bucket list, the biggest attraction is the 11,000 km drive across Russia from west to east. |
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 17, 2018 3:25:40 GMT
Seen a moment ago at work on a colleague’s Facebook:
I hate spelling! Get just two letters wrong and your whole piece is urined!
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 22, 2018 7:16:27 GMT
'Tis the solstice – winter in northern climes and summer in the antipodean – and I wish all well for whatever the silly season means to them. I am doing my best to survive 40°C weather; I love the relief of afternoon storms, although the hail can be a worry when it exceeds 2 cm diameter, as it did yesterday. (I have seen it up to 8 cm in summers past when every roof and every unsheltered car in town was ruined!) There's no white Christmas in Oz except hail – or the kind snorted through $100 notes (nope: been there, done that, over it long ago – but I suppose it helps if one is climbing up and down chimneys in a red suit). Eat, drink, and be merry – and think of those who can't. Attachments:
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Post by Verbivore on Dec 22, 2018 7:30:44 GMT
Weird! I asked the forum software to place those images as insertions, but they ended up as that as well as attachments. Must be the xmas cheer.
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Post by Twoddle on Dec 22, 2018 11:08:09 GMT
At this latitude the evenings started drawing out on the 13th of the month - by two minutes so far - and the mornings will commence likewise on New Year's Eve; and yesterday was indeed the winter solstice. The end to the interminable British-winter is almost in sight! (Wishful thinking, I fear.)
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