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Post by Verbivore on Mar 27, 2020 3:58:22 GMT
10 MisnomersI do find this chap infotaining – though not his attempts at making puns. Those fall flat, and he shrugs them off – but not without a wee smirk at himself. Oh well, no-one's perfect (although the few self-perceived Perfect People I've known were just Perfectly Boring).
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 27, 2020 6:17:06 GMT
The public information media usually refer to the prime minister of the Republic of Ireland as the Taoiseach. On the other hand, we call the Kanzlerin of Germany the chancellor. And we don’t refer to the leaders of China, Russia and other countries by their titles in the local languages. Does anyone know why Irish is accorded special treatment? I suppose this is because we have a translation of Kanzlerin and most of those others are indeed presidents or whatever. Our equivalent of Taoiseach might be Prime Minister, but it is not a translation. So we could say that Leo V is “the prime minister” of Ireland, but we can't say he’s Prime Minister.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 27, 2020 13:01:34 GMT
You are probably correct, Dave, but taoiseach is an Irish word which, according to Google Translate, means “chief” so English mass information media could use that word (which reminds me that we did refer to Hitler and Mussolini as being the Führer and the Duce respectively). But, importantly, Article 28.5.1° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach". So, whatever the word means, the formal definition appears to be “head of government or prime minister” therefore, surely, if speaking English, it would be correct to say “Prime Minister”.
Just thinking. Probably not worth serious debate.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 27, 2020 22:30:11 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 27, 2020 23:12:31 GMT
Verbs and (ir)egularity – How some words get forgetted
I try to keep my vowels regular lest I get irritable vowel syndrome.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 28, 2020 1:14:54 GMT
A different out in— If it were not for the coronavirus emergency, I would have gone out in the car for a drive today.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 28, 2020 1:37:05 GMT
Thanks, LJH. We're up to nine; out in seems versatile with nuances.
* up down (She woke up down town.)
* in out (The rain's blowing in out back.)
* for against (The things we stand for against the inexorable tide of change.)
* out in (The results will be out in an hour.)
* out in (I would have gone out in the car.)
* out in (Will you come out in school?)
* under over (It went under over there.)
* from to (Give it to the girl you got it from to return to her father.)
* off on (I’ll be off on Monday.)
* …
I ought to have kept the original context quotations. Feel free to overwrite my feeble example offerings with better ones.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Mar 28, 2020 14:13:30 GMT
Misnomers—
A bus shelter is not for sheltering buses, or so I have always believed.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 28, 2020 20:41:32 GMT
Misnomers— A bus shelter is not for sheltering buses, or so I have always believed. LJH: I think you're correct there. ;-) I am amused by The Baby Shop – so much so that I once enquired what varieties of baby they stocked and how much they cost. I got the strangest look from the shop owner. The business was next door to The Bike Shop, which funnily enough sold bikes. Now in my nearest town we have The Happiness Shop – despite the saying money can't buy it; the business isn't thriving for whatever reason. In the past we had The Big Man's shop, which neither sold big men nor was owned by one. And then there's the deep-fryer in my supermarket's deli dept, labelled "Vegetarians only". I've never ordered a deep-fried vegetarian but have been tempted.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 29, 2020 22:13:52 GMT
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Post by Dave Miller on Mar 30, 2020 21:06:25 GMT
I might have got the quote slightly wrong, here, but this will be close enough to show the point:
It had had £11,000’s worth of improvements.
That can’t be right, but without actually rewriting it in words, I don’t know how to correct it. Discuss.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 30, 2020 21:31:26 GMT
Dave: I've seen such usage previously, though not often. AFAIK, the pound (or dollar etc.) sign is inclusive of singular and plural, and I would also regard the "possessive" similarly. No apostrophe required (though I'd employ one if the term were spelled out).
$30,000 worth of damage. £25M of total wealth.
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Post by Verbivore on Mar 30, 2020 22:30:57 GMT
New York has become the centre of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, with 60,000 reported cases and more than 1,200 deaths. The author, Bridget Judd, Victorian Young Journalist of the Year Award, is to be congratulated for her use of centre rather than epicentre. Her sentence bears no less gravity for having eschewed epicentre. If only more would follow her example! Of course, I emailed Ms Judd to send my approval, and encouraged her to maintain the faith.
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