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Post by Verbivore on Nov 16, 2021 19:30:30 GMT
[…] one might go the whole way and adopt A-Z and be done with it?
Yes, LJH. It's all become a tad silly. My generation worked toward eliminating or minimising such labels. * The current youth generation is obsessed with categorisation, hence the ever-growing initialism. My son – the generation between – who came out to me 20 years ago, didn't feel the need for a tag. He declared: "If you must label me, just make it sexual". * At the same time there was a strong movement to reclaim terms previously regarded as put-downs or insults, such as poofter, faggot, etc., and turn them into affirmative 'power words'. Writers and activists such as Jeffrey Weeks and Peter Tatchell had a lot to say on that aspect of modern gay history.
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 16, 2021 20:42:07 GMT
The bustle (the 1800s women's dress fashion) The article is not primarily about the bustle, but mentions its possible origins (the fashion, not the word itself). The article is rather long, so to find the reference, search the web page for bustle. (OTOH, some might find the whole piece interesting.) The AOD and ODE say of the term's origin (in the fashion sense): "late 18th century: of unknown origin".
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 16, 2021 23:19:11 GMT
What do all languages have in common?Dig into Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar and decide: Are there universal grammar rules and are they hardwired into our brains? NB: The accompanying graphics are a tad over the top. If they irritate, just listen rather than watch.
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 17, 2021 4:13:29 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 17, 2021 21:16:23 GMT
Perhaps another contender for the award might be scamdemic, a term coined (or at least recently made public) by the Australian Signals Directorate * to describe the considerable increase in email, sms, and phone scams during the COVID-19 pandemic. * The ASD’s stated purpose is “to defend Australia against global threats and advance our national interests through the provision of foreign signals intelligence, cyber security and offensive cyber operations as directed by the Australian Government”.
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Post by Dave Miller on Nov 18, 2021 7:24:21 GMT
Perhaps another contender for the award might be scamdemic, a term coined (or at least recently made public) by the Australian Signals Directorate * to describe the considerable increase in email, sms, and phone scams during the COVID-19 pandemic. * The ASD’s stated purpose is “to defend Australia against global threats and advance our national interests through the provision of foreign signals intelligence, cyber security and offensive cyber operations as directed by the Australian Government”. Through the provision of offensive cyber operations.I like that! (Yes, I know it means “offensive” in the other meaning.)
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Nov 20, 2021 12:43:46 GMT
This may be of interest to some of us. On the whole it doesn’t seem very surprising to me but…
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 20, 2021 21:35:10 GMT
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Nov 22, 2021 6:53:50 GMT
Yes, indeed. But of course we do not truly know that the jury did not remove the lady’s mask. I was reading an article recently which talked about the strange proceedings in American courts.
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Post by Dave Miller on Nov 22, 2021 8:27:38 GMT
Yes, indeed. But of course we do not truly know that the jury did not remove the lady’s mask. I was reading an article recently which talked about the strange proceedings in American courts. Theoretically possible, but my money’s on an error by the author. In nine very short paragraphs, he (James Clayton) manages: - has instead of have (para 2) - the dangler (para 4) - a running comma (para 7) - an inappropriate comma (para 8) - the word “to” missing (para 9) We must accept that some people are less literate than others - but how do they get jobs as journalists?
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 22, 2021 11:49:08 GMT
[…]We must accept that some people are less literate than others - but how do they get jobs as journalists? In former times, before spellcheck and autocorrect, journalists relied on proofreaders and subeditors to tidy their work. These days, in the interests of 'economy' (a false one, I believe), news services have abandoned proofreading, so the literacy shortcomings of journalists are more exposed. We see this daily in not only tabloids and gutter rags but right across 'respectable' broadsheets and the Aunties ABC and BBC. I've delivered a few lectures to journalism students at my local university, and it's obvious – from questioning lecturers and from reading the syllabus – that anything more than basic grammar is no longer part of the training, and the students are encouraged to rely on technical wizardry such as autocorrect (which, I found, introduces more, and more bizarre, errata than a poor writer might naturally make). Until I retired two years ago, I was one of three known remaining newspaper proofreaders in AU. I was replaced, but only one of the others remains, and even that is unlikely to be the case once she has retired in a couple of years' time.
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 24, 2021 0:29:08 GMT
What were they thinking? A roadside produce stall between home and town recently added a name. Either the owners have a strange sense of humour or they are new to AU English. (Perhaps they're Merkins, who pass 'gas' rather than 'wind'?) Perhaps the sideways danger sign below the box is appropriate given the stall's name.
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Post by Twoddle on Nov 24, 2021 9:48:10 GMT
Perhaps they sell mainly brussel sprouts.
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 24, 2021 9:54:35 GMT
Perhaps they sell mainly brussel sprouts. Lima beans?
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Post by Verbivore on Nov 25, 2021 21:40:16 GMT
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