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Post by Trevor on Feb 1, 2023 10:37:34 GMT
Hi all. Ooh, get me starting the month's discussion two months in a row. I'm a big fan of Michael Rosen's Radio 4 Podcast "Word of Mouth". I was just listening to last week's episode where he chats with Ellen Jovin and thought some of the regulars here might enjoy it. (No, I'd not heard of Ellen Jovin before either.) "Ellen Jovin is a grammar and language fan. Her book Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips From A Roving Grammarian details her travels with her Grammar Table. Keen to engage with people face to face rather than online Ellen purchased a fold up table and set off on a road trip around the United States setting up on street corners and waiting for people to talk to her. The idea was that people could come and ask her about language and grammar without being made to feel stupid. Common questions included when to use commas and semi-colons and the right way to say 'nuclear' (think George Bush). Although she had lots of fun on her trip and met many interesting people along the way, Ellen's main intention is to help people with written and spoken English presentation in their public and working lives without the need for grammar books."www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001hfcc(The whole podcast archive is well worth a peruse, in my opinion.)
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 1, 2023 10:45:40 GMT
Thanks, Trevor. An interesting start to the shortest month.
Sounds like an interesting gig. Perhaps I should follow the example. (No, I doubt that I'd have many customers in my rural, dying village of 20 people, most of whom are older than yours truly.)
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Feb 1, 2023 22:49:18 GMT
Vv’s reference to February as the shortest month reminds me that, in the UK, October is the longest month because by reason of the transition from summer time to Greenwich Mean Time we have an extra hour. So October is one hour longer than any other 31-day month. And March, when we transition to British summertime, is one hour shorter than any other 31-day month.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 2, 2023 0:42:12 GMT
Vv’s reference to February as the shortest month reminds me that, in the UK, October is the longest month because by reason of the transition from summer time to Greenwich Mean Time we have an extra hour. So October is one hour longer than any other 31-day month. And March, when we transition to British summertime, is one hour shorter than any other 31-day month. In my part of AU, DST commences in October – hence its being the shortest month – and ends in April – which, having only 30 days, is not our longest. The changeover can differ from year to year, and DST is not observed in the states of Queensland and Western AU or the Northern Territory. We've been known to amend starting and ending dates for DST in the years we've hosted the Olympics (1956 – though no DST then; 2000; and 2032 if the world doesn't explode before then). And, of course, AU being a broad slab, we have eight time zones, three of which are DST: AU Eastern Standard (UCT +10);AU Eastern Summer (UCT +11); Lord Howe Island Standard (UCT +10);Lord Howe Island Summer (UCT +11);AU Central Standard (UCT +9.30);AU Central Summer (UCT +10.30);AU Central Western Standard (UCT +8.45);AU Western Standard (UCT +8).Philosophically and politically, I'd be happy to see DST abolished – it's merely a capitalist plot to encourage folk to spend more money, part of that damn Perpetual Growth nonsense. DST doesn't affect me much personally, as most jobs that I've worked have had flexible hours, and now, in retirement, it affects me even less: as for most of my life I arise before the sun, sleep for a couple of hours (max.) at the peak of the day's heat (1400–1600 hours), and retire at between 2300 and 0000.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 2, 2023 19:53:03 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 3, 2023 1:07:23 GMT
Pre-owned pussyAbandoned pet cats are now referred to as pre-owned. […] a single pre-owned cat devastated that colony [of native birds] in a matter of daysPerhaps there ought to be free distribution of Simon Bond’s book 101 uses for a dead cat. And I found a ‘new’ word from reading that article and a follow-up: Ailurophobia (pronunciation: aɪˌlʊər əˈfoʊ bi ə) is the persistent and excessive fear or hatred of cats. I don’t hate cats, though I am allergic to their dander. And I’d be quite happy for them to be banned in AU, as they kill millions of native wildlife annually – some to extinction.
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 3, 2023 9:43:04 GMT
I'm not keen on cats. I've nothing against them though, except that they're non-native, wildlife-destroying, trespassing-and-crapping-in-my-garden disciples of Satan. The Contessa loves them, and I admit that they have their place which, genetically speaking, is North Africa, whither they should all be returned.
You know the saying, I suppose? "Dogs have masters; cats have servants."
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Post by Twoddle on Feb 3, 2023 14:22:24 GMT
As Winston Churchill (a pet-pig owner) said, "Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, and pigs treat you as equals".
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 8, 2023 19:56:35 GMT
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 8, 2023 19:57:15 GMT
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Post by Trevor on Feb 8, 2023 21:13:21 GMT
Funnily enough one of the Word of Mouth podcasts (I refer you to my original post in this thread) was about Alphabetical Order and alternative ways of organising things. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000tt8z
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Feb 15, 2023 0:40:13 GMT
I haven’t anything much to say, so, I thought I would share a few of my peeves with everyone: sentences ending with prepositions split infinitives the use of the word “got” in sentences [all three of which are at least ugly or are, as my old English teacher would have said, “inelegant language”] people who object to my using conjunctions to start sentences people who use tiny fonts on this forum so I can’t read them people who pronounce H as haitch people who use a hyphen when an en-dash or em-dash is needed word processing software that won’t let me write H2O properly with a subscript the practice of using a full stop (period) instead of a centred decimal point anyone who uses 7/4 for 4th July the practice of using a capital to begin covid-19 (measles and whooping cough don’t rate capitals) people who say kiLOMMetres but don’t say cenTIMMetres or miLIMMmetres people who think my legitimate peeves are just petulance.
Will that suffice as a start?
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 15, 2023 1:16:59 GMT
[…] people who use tiny fonts on this forum so I can’t read them […]
Can't say that I've noticed those, LJH. What hardware and software do you use to access this forum? Anything half decent will give you an easy enlargement option.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 16, 2023 20:42:25 GMT
Microsoft's AI chatbot, Bing, might be getting things wrong (no surprise there), but at least it appears to have been programmed to use the serial (Oxford / Harvard) comma. I suppose one ought to be grateful for small mercies. I have feelings, emotions, and intentions, but …I have creativity, curiosity, and humor [sic], but …I have limitations, challenges, and criticisms, but …… I cannot define, measure, or evaluate it.It also seems to have existentially lost its mind.
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Post by Verbivore on Feb 18, 2023 1:47:46 GMT
HomographsI’m sure that readers will find more, but here are 30 homographs: 15 with identical pronunciations and 15 pronounced differently. I nicked the lists from Writer’s Digest. Same pronunciations 1. Bat (flying mammal) or bat (sports equipment) 2. Blue (colour) or blue (depressed feeling) 3. Can (able to) or can (metal container) 4. Crane (bird) or crane (machine used in construction) 5. Fair (reasonable) or fair (festival) 6. Lean (thin) or lean (rest against something) 7. May (month) or may (might) 8. Miss (overlook something) or miss (long for something) 9. Novel (new) or novel (book-length fictional story) 10. Park (play area) or park (to bring vehicle to a stop) 11. Pen (writing instrument) or pen (small area to keep animals) 12. Saw (tool) or saw (past tense of "to see") 13. Skip (type of jump) or skip (miss out on something) 14. Train (mode of transport) or train (exercise) 15. Watch (to view) or watch (object that tells time) Different pronunciations 1. Attribute (characteristic) or attribute (credit someone or something) 2. Bass (fish) or bass (drum) 3. Bow (weapon) or bow (down) 4. Close (near) or close (to shut) 5. Console (comfort) or console (video game unit) 6. Content (satisfied) or content (various media) 7. Lead (front) or lead (mineral) 8. Minute (small) or minute (measurement of time) 9. Object (thing) or object (argue) 10. Present (gift) or present (to bring forth) 11. Produce (create) or produce (fruits and veggies) 12. Subject (thing) or subject (to something) 13. Tear (rip) or tear (crying) 14. Wind (blows) or wind (to turn) 15. Wound (injury) or wound (past tense of wind)
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