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August
Aug 6, 2023 3:27:53 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 6, 2023 3:27:53 GMT
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Post by Dave Miller on Aug 6, 2023 18:27:53 GMT
Good one, Vv. I feel that Rob missed a classic that I found in Germany.
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August
Aug 7, 2023 1:14:39 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 7, 2023 1:14:39 GMT
First we had the tautological x-year anniversary, which is fast becoming mainstream in the formal and informal media. (Does that commonality of usage redefine the term as ‘correct’?) Now we’re being assaulted by ‘coffee cafés’ – or coffee coffees. Yes, I acknowledge that cafés sell more than coffee, but ‘coffee café’ irks me. Is this silly term creeping in elsewhere, or is it just in AU? (I believe that x-year anniversary arrived in AU via the antisocial media, seemingly from the US. Where coffee café came from I’ve no idea; I first saw it as the name of a program on AU's Aunty ABC, but it is now appearing in the news – para #7.)
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August
Aug 7, 2023 1:43:18 GMT
Post by Little Jack Horner on Aug 7, 2023 1:43:18 GMT
I am glad to say I have never heard of a coffee café and nor has the voice recognition software on my iPad which has just written "coffee coffee" and which I had to correct for this sentence.
I enjoyed listening to the vlog about place names and spent far too much time reading the comments which other people have made. Of course most of us have an eight-year-old's sense of humour – no names, no pack drill – but the name I liked the best was Punkeydoodles Corners which is apparently "an unincorporated hamlet in southwestern Ontario, in Canada, known for its strange name and frequent sign theft".
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August
Aug 7, 2023 5:49:26 GMT
Post by Dave Miller on Aug 7, 2023 5:49:26 GMT
When not being an 8-year-old, my favourite village name is Indian Queens, in Cornwall.
I’ve not (yet …) come across the expression “coffee café”, I’m pleased to say.
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August
Aug 7, 2023 12:23:55 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 7, 2023 12:23:55 GMT
LJH and Dave: I’m pleased to learn that coffee café hasn’t yet spread to you or to Apple’s voice recognition. It’s a stupid, ignorant tautology.
And while none of them has been Indian, I have lived in four different Queen Streets, FWIW. I’ve also lived in a Prince Street and a King Street. How royal can one get? lol
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August
Aug 13, 2023 22:22:50 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 13, 2023 22:22:50 GMT
Here’s a newspaper headline that contradicts itself. It’s been reported that Mississippi, like other "Bible Belt" states, has one of the worst literacy rates in the USA, and students consistently score the poorest in maths and science. Of course, I’m sure there’s no connection between those facts and the headline. Ahem. Note: There is a discussion about the item here on Snopes.
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August
Aug 14, 2023 22:26:07 GMT
Post by Little Jack Horner on Aug 14, 2023 22:26:07 GMT
I have read the article in Snopes and I'm afraid I can't work out whether the headline is genuine or not. I think I shall have to go and have a sleep and try again tomorrow.
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August
Aug 15, 2023 9:17:22 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 15, 2023 9:17:22 GMT
Have I been mispronouncing asthma wrongly all my life?
Hearing it pronounced as-ma (UK/AU) and az-ma (US) too often finally drove me to consult dictionaries. I was amazed to find as-ma and az-ma reported as the only pronunciations; no mention whatever of as-th-ma (in other than etymological contexts).
Was my childhood elocution teacher wrong? Has my pedantry, and dabbling in etymology, led me astray? I’ll find it difficult to say as-ma without feeling consciously sloppy.
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Aug 15, 2023 13:34:24 GMT
O.K. I have always said ASS-th-muh. And I am astonished to find that is wrong. I am now going to consult with all my friends and relations and see what they think. I will bring you word again in a few days ⁉️
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August
Aug 15, 2023 20:48:59 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 15, 2023 20:48:59 GMT
O.K. I have always said ASS-th-muh. And I am astonished to find that is wrong. I am now going to consult with all my friends and relations and see what they think. I will bring you word again in a few days ⁉️
Thank you, LJH! If that pronunciation suits you, then I’ll probably stick with it too, unless overwhelming evidence (other than from descriptive dictionaries) presents.
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Post by Dave Miller on Aug 15, 2023 21:19:06 GMT
I’ve always said, when being careful, ASSth-ma.
When being careless, I‘m likely to say ass-ma.
(Much as I say Wednz-day when careful, and wenzday when not.)
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August
Aug 16, 2023 8:36:43 GMT
Post by Twoddle on Aug 16, 2023 8:36:43 GMT
I’ve always said, when being careful, ASSth-ma. When being careless, I‘m likely to say ass-ma. (Much as I say Wednz-day when careful, and wenzday when not.) Same here.
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August
Aug 16, 2023 8:40:50 GMT
Post by Twoddle on Aug 16, 2023 8:40:50 GMT
An Australian news reporter on the TV this morning told the captain of the Matildas - the Australian Women's football team - that the team had "literally set the World on fire". At least we now know who's responsible.
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August
Aug 16, 2023 10:20:46 GMT
Post by Verbivore on Aug 16, 2023 10:20:46 GMT
An Australian news reporter on the TV this morning told the captain of the Matildas - the Australian Women's football team - that the team had "literally set the World on fire". At least we now know who's responsible. I am literally sick to death of those Matildas hogging the news. First thing this morning on my usual news channel, five of the eight leading articles were about the Tillys as they’ve come to be known. I much preferred it when sport was relegated to the back page of newspapers – the pages we used as toilet paper in the outdoors dunny on the farm. I’m an atheist not only when it comes to regular religion, but perhaps even more so when it’s the ‘religion’ of sport.
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