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Post by Verbivore on Feb 18, 2022 20:17:24 GMT
Thanks, LJH. Not yet moving house, but madly methodically packing – including my library, so I can’t consult my myriad dictionaries. My computer-resident reference gives nothing on origins, but Wikipedia tells me: PostventionThe term was first coined by Edwin S. Shneidman, an American clinical psychologist, suicidologist, and thanatologist in 1972.My counselling and counsellor-training years were from the late 1970s till the early '90s and I never encountered the term, though certainly practised it when prevention failed (fortunately rarely). I was recently given an extension of a month on my current tenancy, so deadline is now the end of March. Meanwhile, my reasons for leaving the area (my 'home zone' for 3/4 of my life) have been further confirmed by the sale of neighbouring properties – one beside and one at the rear – for silly prices: $8M and $14M. Two years ago those places sold for $1M and $3M. Shirewide, now 55% of rental housing is monopolised by short-term holiday rentals such as Airbnb and Stayz, causing thousands to move away in the quest for affordable housing. A house across the road from me now rents over the peak holiday seasons for an obscene $10K / week. It's not even a fancy house, just a nicely renovated 100-year-old farmhouse. I try to not be bitter about the invasion from the cities, but …
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 18, 2022 22:41:15 GMT
We had Storm Eunice today - what a joy. A full power-cut from 11.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., then an hour-and-a-half of partial power, where some things worked and others didn't, and a few things (such as 'fridge-freezer and boiler) made groaning noises. After dark it was quite romantic with oil lamps and candles, but enough's as good as a feast, and everything's working again now, thank goodness.
Three fence-panels went off for a party but I don't think anything else was damaged, although I've yet to check outside.
Not a patch on '87, of course.
The Isle of Wight recorded the highest ever known wind in England today, at 122 mph (196 k/h.), but they've never recorded me after Brussel sprouts at Christmas.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 19, 2022 7:30:07 GMT
We had Storm Eunice today - what a joy. […] Twod: There's your entry for the next Bulwer-Lytton Award! Just the most minor edits and away you go! (Do go for the purple ink to complement the prose ;-) We had Storm Eunice today: What a joy – a full power-cut from 11.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m., then an hour-and-a-half of partial power, where some things worked and others didn't, and a few things (such as 'fridge-freezer and boiler) made groaning noises, while after dark it was quite romantic with oil lamps and candles, but enough's as good as a feast, and everything's working again now, thank goodness.The 2021 Bulwer-Lytton Grand Prize Winner was Kiwi Stu Duval of Auckland. I do think Duval well deserved the award for his entry: "A lecherous sunrise flaunted itself over a flatulent sea, ripping the obsidian bodice of night asunder with its rapacious fingers of gold, thus exposing her dusky bosom to the dawn’s ogling stare".Congratulations, Mr Duval!Of those 32 words, ≅20% are adjectives. I'm not sure that Fowler or Gowers would approve. In my primary-school Composition classes, we were encouraged to produce 'colourful drivel' full of adjectives. When we got to secondary school we were discouraged from using 'too many' adjectives. At tertiary level we were marked down for waxing adjectival beyond necessity. The adjective has been deprecated. But at least the Bulwer-Lytton keeps the worst of them alive. It sounds like you're unharmed: ideal! I hope no-one here was harmed or inconvenienced.
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 19, 2022 10:53:56 GMT
At school we were encouraged to use descriptive writing in the English lessons, but discouraged to do so in Science. I recall some funsters attempting to annoy the Chemistry teacher by writing reports on experiments by using terminology such as "Egg-nog yellow", "Beaujolais red" and "Curacao blue".
I'm not a descriptive type. I've read most of Dickens, but not his vast tracts of descriptive prose which I found dreadfully boring. In doing so I probably missed half the plots.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 19, 2022 20:09:48 GMT
My new word for February: ophiophilist (ˌɒfɪˈɒfɪlɪst) – a person who loves snakes
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Feb 19, 2022 23:25:49 GMT
I have just sent my daughter a text message which I ended by saying, “aren’t I clever?“. Am I allowed to say this? Is it an idiom or downright wrong? Clearly, it should be “am I not clever?“ or “am not I clever?”. Opinions will be welcome but I am sure that whatever the opinion I will continue to speak “aren’t I clever?”.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 20, 2022 1:12:34 GMT
LJH: I think your "aren’t I clever?" is idiomatic and acceptable – a thoroughly ordinary expression in Oz.
A version I heard a lot of in the US (more toward the South) was "Am't I [clever / smart / stoopid]?" It makes sense, but sounds to my ear hick-ish.
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 20, 2022 11:44:04 GMT
It's one of those quirks of idiomatic English. "Amn't I" would be correct but "Aren't" I is what everyone says. It's rather like "Try and", which is as universal as it's bonkers, instead of "Try to", which makes sense, or the grammatically incorrect "It's me", rather than the correct but rarely used "It's I".
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Feb 20, 2022 16:22:20 GMT
The use of “It is I” has always seemed very dubious to me. I know that most grammarians refer to the verb “be” as being a linking verb and therefore that it does not take an objective pronoun but I do not understand why there should be such a rule. Almost everybody says, “It is me” and it seems to me that this is a clear case of custom and practice trumping whatever Victorian grammarians might prefer.
All the websites which I have discovered that refer to the “It is I“ versus “It is me” issue seem to be agreed that “It is I” is really only appropriate in a very formal contexts. I think it is on a par with avoiding the use of prepositions to end sentences, the avoidance of split infinitives, and not beginning sentences with a conjunction.
Having said that, I think I would probably say, “It is I who made the mistake” or “It is I who should apologise”. My mental process would, “I made a mistake” or “I should apologise” rather than me did it.
All these examples raise the broader question of when a “traditional” grammatical error is so commonplace that it becomes standard. After all, most of us on this forum would agree that language changes over time. All the same, I still cannot tolerate, “Me and my wife went shopping” however commonplace that structure has become over recent years. And I think split infinitives and most sentences ending with prepositions are, at the very least, ugly.
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Post by Dave Miller on Feb 21, 2022 9:05:50 GMT
Two patterns that seem (at least to me) to be growing in (mis)use are:
“X and I” used as an immutable noun phrase, when “X and me” would be correct: they welcomed X and I more warmly than the other guests.
“Myself” as a replacement for I or me: Myself, my husband and the family ask for privacy at this difficult time. Or Online attacks were received by myself and my partner.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 21, 2022 11:52:16 GMT
Two patterns that seem (at least to me) to be growing in (mis)use are: “X and I” used as an immutable noun phrase, when “X and me” would be correct: they welcomed X and I more warmly than the other guests.“Myself” as a replacement for I or me: Myself, my husband and the family ask for privacy at this difficult time. Or Online attacks were received by myself and my partner.LJH: The "me and X went shopping" is not only poor grammar but also poor manners. In my youth I was taught that one ought to always place oneself last as a matter of courtesy. Perhaps the increasing use of "me and X went …" is indicative of today's self-centredness? Dave: Those are common irritations to me. If one were Jamaican, however (talking like Bob Marley), I is also used for the object and indirect object form rather than me, e.g. "He gave it to I." *In this video the presenter claims, at 1:25, that fortnight is slang. I’ve asked in the comments (as 21stCentury Ozman) on what basis does he make that claim? No reputable dictionary I know lists fortnight as slang (though a few dodgy online dictionaries do so). Its origin is Old English (5th–11th centuries): fēowertīene niht – 'fourteen nights'. Is anyone else of the opinion that fortnight is slang, or is the fellow talking through the wrong hole misguided? *PS: On the "me and X" matter, it's not just hoi polloi; I've often heard / read of Prince Harry Markle, say "me and X". I doubt we'd hear that from HMQ.
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 21, 2022 12:15:47 GMT
I disagree completely and vehemently that "fortnight" is slang. Where did that self-appointed, glottle-using "expert" get his information? In fact I rather like "sennight" for a "week" too, and it's a pity it's become archaic.
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 21, 2022 12:25:21 GMT
The use of “It is I” has always seemed very dubious to me. I know that most grammarians refer to the verb “be” as being a linking verb and therefore that it does not take an objective pronoun but I do not understand why there should be such a rule. Almost everybody says, “It is me” and it seems to me that this is a clear case of custom and practice trumping whatever Victorian grammarians might prefer.
All the websites which I have discovered that refer to the “It is I“ versus “It is me” issue seem to be agreed that “It is I” is really only appropriate in a very formal contexts. I think it is on a par with avoiding the use of prepositions to end sentences, the avoidance of split infinitives, and not beginning sentences with a conjunction.
Having said that, I think I would probably say, “It is I who made the mistake” or “It is I who should apologise”. My mental process would, “I made a mistake” or “I should apologise” rather than me did it.
All these examples raise the broader question of when a “traditional” grammatical error is so commonplace that it becomes standard. After all, most of us on this forum would agree that language changes over time. All the same, I still cannot tolerate, “Me and my wife went shopping” however commonplace that structure has become over recent years. And I think split infinitives and most sentences ending with prepositions are, at the very least, ugly.
LJH, I could give chapter and verse as to why "It is I" is grammatically correct and "It is me" isn't, but you'd fall asleep reading it. "Be" is indeed a linking (or "copulative") verb, rather than transitive or intransitive, because it has two subjects, not a subject and an object, but I'll stop there because I can see your eyelids beginning to droop already.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 21, 2022 12:32:08 GMT
I disagree completely and vehemently that "fortnight" is slang. Where did that self-appointed, glottle-using "expert" get his information? In fact I rather like "sennight" for a "week" too, and it's a pity it's become archaic. Twod: I suspect that he got that idea from The Urban Dictionary, wherein is mentioned the silly notion of its being slang. TUD might be a window into some people's 'thinking' and ignorance but it is far from authoritative.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 21, 2022 20:56:37 GMT
I discovered a new term in this morning’s news: Snapchat dysmorphia. Why people (men included) try to ‘improve’ on Nature is, I posit, vanity, or perhaps poor self-esteem. Dissatisfaction is born of comparisons of themselves with others, increasingly via (anti)social media such as Snapchat and Instagram. ’Tis a 21st-century disease of the mind and a 'selfie' society.
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