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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Heaven: Poking fun at the (linguistically) handicapped
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Astro:
The equivalent trend in the UK was to refer to everyone as customers - thus hospitals did not have patients but customers, trains and airlines did not have passengers but customers etc. This seem to co-incide with a deteriation in standards of service so it seems to me that a hospital treats its customers worse than it does its patients, and transport companies treat their customers worse than thay treated their passengers.
Yes, I hate this too - the unspoken implication is that as "customers" we have a choice - whereas really we have no choice at all. Insulting.
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
Here's another I'd forgotten until I was listening to some Christmas music last night (for the first time this year)... On the first Christmas CD by the Projekt label (darkwave) - "Excelsis" - there's a track of Eva O singing "O Holy Night." I'm not making this up: she sings
quote:
Long lay the world in sin and error pinning
The thing is, that had to pass everyone who heard the song rehearsed; the band; the recording engineers; the producer (presumably); the CD's compiler, and who knows who else, and nobody said, "Er, I think it's pining..."
I always remember our organisation's Christmas carol service a couple of years ago, when a woman got up to read the lesson about the shepherds going to the manger. She pronounced "manger" to rhyme with "anger".
Last week we had this year's service and it was this lady's turn again, this time the reading about the three wise men. This time, "magi" rhymed with "Magee" (like the actor Patrick Magee).
But what is really baffling is that this lady is the representative of our organisation's Christian Fellowship. I can't believe that she had never heard either of these words read out loud before!
![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif)
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Chorister
Completely Frocked
# 473
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Posted
A very useful book if you are reading in church - to avoid enormous howlers - is 'A guide to pronouncing biblical names' by T.S.K. Scott-Craig. Purchasing such a book would have saved the dignity of the previous poster's example, the dignity of my mother who, as a child, stood up to read the 'beauty tudes' and my son from threatening to read 'the serpent big willied me' at the 9 lessons and carols. (Well, the final example was him horsing around while practising it, but I was on the edge of my seat during the service, terrified that he would commit a Freudian slip due to nerves ![[Eek!]](eek.gif) )
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Retired, sitting back and watching others for a change.
Posts: 34626 | From: Cream Tealand | Registered: Jun 2001
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Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister
A very useful book if you are reading in church - to avoid enormous howlers - is 'A guide to pronouncing biblical names' by T.S.K. Scott-Craig.
Here is my policy on pronouncing Biblical names.
I look at the name, make a quick decision on how to pronounce it, and then pronounce it confidently.
If you appear to know what you're doing, most people will take it for granted you're right.
Moo
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Kerygmania host
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See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
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sharkshooter
Not your average shark
# 1589
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
A very useful book if you are reading in church - to avoid enormous howlers - is 'A guide to pronouncing biblical names' by T.S.K. Scott-Craig. ...
Or a KJV. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:14]
Posts: 7772 | From: Canada; Washington DC; Phoenix; it's complicated | Registered: Oct 2001
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Custard
Shipmate
# 5402
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Posted
A slogan outside a sports clothing shop.
quote:
We got it. They don't.
They don't got what?
Linguistic impediments?
Frontal lobotomies?
What?
Needless to say, they did not get my custom.
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blog
Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp thine image in its place.
Posts: 4523 | From: Snot's Place | Registered: Jan 2004
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:
But what is really baffling is that this lady is the representative of our organisation's Christian Fellowship. I can't believe that she had never heard either of these words read out loud before!
She probably had. And probably had some idea that her chosen pronunciation was closer to the original.
After all, given that Sinai is pronounced as "Sigh Knee Eye", Canaan as "Cane Ay Anne", and Magi as "May Jye", you do wonder whether she mightn't have had a point.
(Which reminds me that just last week, I heard someone in the Ready Meals section of my local supermarket asking her husband whether he'd like Eye-talian food for dinner. But is that really any worse than pronouncing Paris as Paris and not Paree?)
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
Whereas the original pronunciations would probably have been more like:
See-nye
Cuhnaan
and
Mah-ghee
Although once they've been through the filters of transliterations of Hebrew to Greek to Latin...
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Al Eluia
Inquisitor
# 864
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
A very useful book if you are reading in church - to avoid enormous howlers - is 'A guide to pronouncing biblical names' by T.S.K. Scott-Craig. Purchasing such a book would have saved the dignity of the previous poster's example, the dignity of my mother who, as a child, stood up to read the 'beauty tudes' and my son from threatening to read 'the serpent big willied me' at the 9 lessons and carols. (Well, the final example was him horsing around while practising it, but I was on the edge of my seat during the service, terrified that he would commit a Freudian slip due to nerves )
At a parish my rector previously served at, they had a "Youth Sunday" where the youth group took various roles in the service. The teenage girl who read the epistle described Paul as "an apostle to the Genitals." A self-pronouncing Bible wouldn't have helped with that!
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Consider helping out the Anglican Seminary in El Salvador with a book or two! https://www.amazon.es/registry/wishlist/YDAZNSAWWWBT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_7IRSzbD16R9RQ
https://www.episcopalcafe.com/a-seminary-is-born-in-el-salvador/
Posts: 1157 | From: Seattle | Registered: Jul 2001
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Zeke
Ship's Inquirer
# 3271
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Posted
In Signs and Blunders there was an example of a service in which the reader kept saying something about the "High Titties" which eventually turned out to be the Hittites.
The American pronounciation of many multisyllabic words (quite measured and speaking every syllable) can be largely traced, as Mousethief said, to Noah Webster, who put these pronounciations in his popular dictionary. Hence, we say sec-ruh-tehr-ree, instead of sec-ruh-tree for "secretary."
There is a man who was a local weather forecaster here and recently was promoted to a major cable news network so that we are regularly irritated by the way he says his name, which is Sean McLaughlin. He pronounces it "Seen." Perhaps we can blame his mother for that, but it must be difficult for many of the others who must speak to him on-air to remember what, to me, sounds like a very egregious abuse of a perfectly nice name. In this country most people unfortunately end up spelling it "Shaun" or "Shawn" or some such.
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No longer the Bishop of Durham
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If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it? --Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 5259 | From: Deep in the American desert | Registered: Sep 2002
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
Hence, we say sec-ruh-tehr-ree, instead of sec-ruh-tree for "secretary."
SEKtri
quote:
Sean McLaughlin.
But how does he say his surname?
I'd go for m@kh-LOKH-l@n
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
There is a man who was a local weather forecaster here and recently was promoted to a major cable news network so that we are regularly irritated by the way he says his name, which is Sean McLaughlin. He pronounces it "Seen."
Well, I've seen Michael used as a girl's name and pronounced Mishale.
And I bet she got really sick of having to constantly tell people how to pronounce her name.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Custard
Shipmate
# 5402
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Posted
wasn't that Saul's daughter?
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blog
Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp thine image in its place.
Posts: 4523 | From: Snot's Place | Registered: Jan 2004
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Zeke
Ship's Inquirer
# 3271
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
Hence, we say sec-ruh-tehr-ree, instead of sec-ruh-tree for "secretary."
SEKtri
quote:
Sean McLaughlin.
But how does he say his surname?
I'd go for m@kh-LOKH-l@n
Mick LOFF-lin. That's usually how you hear it said over here.
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No longer the Bishop of Durham
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If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it? --Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 5259 | From: Deep in the American desert | Registered: Sep 2002
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sharkshooter
Not your average shark
# 1589
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
Sean McLaughlin.
But how does he say his surname?
I'd go for m@kh-LOKH-l@n
Mick LOFF-lin. That's usually how you hear it said over here.
Jones.
Well, there aren't any f's in it either.
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Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:14]
Posts: 7772 | From: Canada; Washington DC; Phoenix; it's complicated | Registered: Oct 2001
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Esmeralda
Ship's token UK Mennonite
# 582
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Matt Black:
Another thing that annoys me is the proliferation of 'specialists'; this seems to be a recent trend here. It's not longer sufficient to be a mere plumber, builder, or glazer; one has to be a 'plumbing specialist', 'building and construction specialist' and 'window installation and glazing specialist'.
Matt, Legal Specialist
Matt, I'm sure that even in Hampshire, a person who cuts and installs glass is a 'glazier', not a glazer. S/he certainly is in north London./
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I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.
http://reversedstandard.wordpress.com/
Posts: 17415 | From: A small island nobody pays any attention to | Registered: Jun 2001
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mrs whibley
Shipmate
# 4798
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Posted
Well, since we're on names, don't get the Brits started on Colin Powell!
Mrs Whibley
Posts: 942 | From: North Lincolnshire | Registered: Aug 2003
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Zeke
Ship's Inquirer
# 3271
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Posted
I hate that too; I always think of a body part.
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No longer the Bishop of Durham
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If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it? --Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 5259 | From: Deep in the American desert | Registered: Sep 2002
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
I used to think Americans called their mothers "Mom".
Then I met some and found that they call them "Mum" almost exactly as we do.
Its just that they spell it "Mom".
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Beethoven
Ship's deaf genius
# 114
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Posted
Beethoven creeps in to the thread with a pernickety point from days ago, not having been on ship much this week (again!)
quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
quote:
Originally posted by Balaam:
How would you pronounce "Wednesday"?
Voe-tawn's dog (Wodansdag) when I'm Speaking Swedish or attempting German...
Hey, when did Sweden change it from Onsdag?????
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Who wants to be a rock anyway?
toujours gai!
Posts: 1309 | From: Here (and occasionally there) | Registered: May 2001
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
I used to think Americans called their mothers "Mom".
Then I met some and found that they call them "Mum" almost exactly as we do.
Its just that they spell it "Mom".
Actually, everyone I know really does say "Mom" with a short o, not a short u. Must be a regional thing.
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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Sinistærial
Ship's Lefty
# 5834
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Posted
With regards to the 'amount vs number' count/non count thingy.
At work when I put people on hold I say "Just one moment" and as soon as I say it I tell myself, you can't count moments - it should be 'just a moment.
Can anyone tell me if it is okay to say 'just one moment'?
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People laugh at me because I am different.
I laugh at other people because they are all the same.
æ = æ
Posts: 894 | From: The Holy City - Adelaide | Registered: Apr 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sinisterial:
At work when I put people on hold I say "Just one moment" and as soon as I say it I tell myself, you can't count moments - it should be 'just a moment.
Can anyone tell me if it is okay to say 'just one moment'?
Can you tell me the difference between "just one moment" and "just a moment"? In say 50 words or fewer?
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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chukovsky
Ship's toddler
# 116
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
I used to think Americans called their mothers "Mom".
Then I met some and found that they call them "Mum" almost exactly as we do.
Its just that they spell it "Mom".
Actually, everyone I know really does say "Mom" with a short o, not a short u. Must be a regional thing.
I hardly know any Americans who can say a short "o", at least not one that's recognisable to anyone from Britain. It's much more like something that would be spelled "Ma'am" or "Mam" but with a longer /a/ than the N. English "Mam". But then the S. English /u/ as in "Mum" is not that different to an /a/ so perhaps that's why Ken thinks Americans are saying "Mum".
Some Irish/Black Country families (as in, I know two of them and they are both of Irish origin and live in the Black Country, so I'm not sure where it comes from), however, do seem to say "Mom" with an English short /o/ - and one of them at least spells it like that.
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This space left intentionally blank. Do not write on both sides of the paper at once.
Posts: 6842 | From: somewhere else | Registered: May 2001
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zeke:
quote:
Originally posted by ken:
quote:
Sean McLaughlin.
But how does he say his surname?
I'd go for m@kh-LOKH-l@n
Mick LOFF-lin. That's usually how you hear it said over here.
Hey, it's his name. If he wants to pronounce it "Smith", it's Smith.
As one who gets his name mispronounced (not drastically, just enough to peeve slightly) you just have to accept that folk don't get it right first time, every time. Mrs Sioni's maiden name is Irish and is rarely pronounced or spelt correctly.
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Astro
Shipmate
# 84
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Posted
On names at one time Leslie was a boy's name and Lesley a girls's name but these days lots of girls spell their name Leslie which i find confusing.
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if you look around the world today – whether you're an atheist or a believer – and think that the greatest problem facing us is other people's theologies, you are yourself part of the problem. - Andrew Brown (The Guardian)
Posts: 2723 | From: Chiltern Hills | Registered: May 2001
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Linguo
Ship's grammar robot
# 7220
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Posted
I once encountered a child called Keighley*, which she pronounced 'Kay-lee'. ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
*Keighley is a town in West (I think) Yorkshire, and is pronounced 'Keeff-lee'.
Posts: 997 | From: around and about the place | Registered: May 2004
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babybear
Bear faced and cheeky with it
# 34
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Linguo:
I once encountered a child called Keighley, which she pronounced 'Kay-lee'.
That is because that is the way to pronounce it. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
quote:
Keighley is a town in West (I think) Yorkshire, and is pronounced 'Keeff-lee'.
Gremlin grew up close to Keighley, and says that it is only pronounced 'Keeff-lee' by people who say "free" instead of "three"
Posts: 13287 | From: Cottage of the 3 Bears (and The Gremlin) | Registered: May 2001
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Linguo
Ship's grammar robot
# 7220
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Keighley is a town in West (I think) Yorkshire, and is pronounced 'Keeff-lee'.
Gremlin grew up close to Keighley, and says that it is only pronounced 'Keeff-lee' by people who say "free" instead of "three"
I stand corrected. (And I don't say 'free'!)
[code]
[ 24. December 2004, 09:40: Message edited by: Linguo ]
Posts: 997 | From: around and about the place | Registered: May 2004
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Gracie
Shipmate
# 3870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Keighley is a town in West (I think) Yorkshire, and is pronounced 'Keeff-lee'.
Gremlin grew up close to Keighley, and says that it is only pronounced 'Keeff-lee' by people who say "free" instead of "three"
I also grew up close to Keighley. Most people seemed to pronounce the 'gh' not as a 'th' but as a kind of 'kl' sound which is otherwise foreign to the English language (I can't find the exact phonectic transcription).
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When someone is convinced he’s an Old Testament prophet there’s not a lot you can do with him rationally. - Sine
Posts: 1090 | From: En lieu sûr | Registered: Dec 2002
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
Aha. This might explain why, since coming to live in Lancashire or thereabouts, I've never been able to get the hang of the fairly common surname "Greenhalgh". When I hear it said, it seems to get as far as "Greenha-" and then lose itself in a lot of phlegm. I think they're doing what they Keighley-ites are doing with "Keighley" (which isn't too far away, despite being in the County We're Not Allowed To Mention).
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Gracie:
quote:
Originally posted by babybear:
quote:
Keighley is a town in West (I think) Yorkshire, and is pronounced 'Keeff-lee'.
Gremlin grew up close to Keighley, and says that it is only pronounced 'Keeff-lee' by people who say "free" instead of "three"
I also grew up close to Keighley. Most people seemed to pronounce the 'gh' not as a 'th' but as a kind of 'kl' sound which is otherwise foreign to the English language (I can't find the exact phonectic transcription).
I remember it being pronounced nearly "-th" by the Blessed Eddie Waring* in Rugby League commentaries on winter Saturdays on BBC Grandstand. I thing the "-kl" is probably close to the Welsh "-ll" sound, which isn't far off "-th" either. Maybe it is to do with geography: the hills round Keighley look almost Welsh.
*mind you EW pronounced Rugby League "Arraggbi' Leeeg".
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
I think it's people trying to pronounce how it's spelt. It's always been "Keith-ley"
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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Gracie
Shipmate
# 3870
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
I thing the "-kl" is probably close to the Welsh "-ll" sound, which isn't far off "-th" either. Maybe it is to do with geography: the hills round Keighley look almost Welsh.
Yes that's where I've heard it before. The 'kl' is indeed very similar to the 'll' in Welsh. I'm not expert enough to know whether the Pennines look like the Welsh hills though.
I'm not so sure about your theory Karl. There's a different way of pronoucing almost everything from valley to valley in those parts.
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When someone is convinced he’s an Old Testament prophet there’s not a lot you can do with him rationally. - Sine
Posts: 1090 | From: En lieu sûr | Registered: Dec 2002
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Red Star Bethlehem
Shipmate
# 8897
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Posted
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
[QB] Just a few, the first of which annoys me.
“Asterix” for *.
I always thought this one quite funny, realy. Of course not knowing the word "asterisk" is a severe human shortcoming.
But having read Asterix makes up for that, does it not? Btw the English and the French Asterix are equally ingenuous, the German in contrast is comparatively dull. I hasten to add that this is not due to a lacking sense of humour but due to the fact that German does not lend itself to puns quite as much as the other two.
I once saw someone refer to the female deer as "dough" which delighted me. Knowing a word like doe and then being unable to spell it, what tragedy!
Posts: 179 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Red Star Bethlehem
Shipmate
# 8897
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Posted
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Sioni Sais:
[QB] Just a few, the first of which annoys me.
“Asterix” for *.
I always thought this one quite funny, realy. Of course not knowing the word "asterisk" is a severe human shortcoming.
But having read Asterix makes up for that, does it not? Btw the English and the French Asterix are equally ingenuous, the German in contrast is comparatively dull. I hasten to add that this is not due to a lacking sense of humour but due to the fact that German does not lend itself to puns quite as much as the other two.
I once saw someone refer to the female deer as "dough" which delighted me. Knowing a word like doe and then being unable to spell it, what tragedy!
Posts: 179 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Red Star Bethlehem
Shipmate
# 8897
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Chorister:
A very useful book if you are reading in church - to avoid enormous howlers - is 'A guide to pronouncing biblical names' by T.S.K. Scott-Craig. Purchasing such a book would have saved the dignity of the previous poster's example, the dignity of my mother who, as a child, stood up to read the 'beauty tudes' and my son from threatening to read 'the serpent big willied me' at the 9 lessons and carols. (Well, the final example was him horsing around while practising it, but I was on the edge of my seat during the service, terrified that he would commit a Freudian slip due to nerves )
What kind of a coarse language is this where even native speakers hesitate how to pronounce the most simple things. Does anyone outside the UK know how to pronounce the innocent little town of Slough?
See?
Go and ask if you want to know.
Why do we not all just start to write in civilised and simple tongues like German or better still, Italian, where all letters have one and only one pronounciation and confusion is virtually unknown.
I shudder at the thought that God might have tried to dictate the Bible in English if he had waited until the present time instead of using the lingua franca of yonder age.
Well, maybe Greek was not that different?! That at least would explain a few Biblical howlers?
Posts: 179 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Esmeralda
Ship's token UK Mennonite
# 582
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Red Star Bethlehem:
Go and ask if you want to know.
Why do we not all just start to write in civilised and simple tongues like German or better still, Italian, where all letters have one and only one pronounciation and confusion is virtually unknown.
German? Simple? With three genders of definite article, and half a dozen cases? Italian, with dozens of incomprehensible idioms? No, give me English, the world language, any day. If it was good enough for Shakespeare and Tyndale...
Yes, pronunciation is a bit erratic. But have you ever tried to pronounce Irish Gaelic?
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I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand.
http://reversedstandard.wordpress.com/
Posts: 17415 | From: A small island nobody pays any attention to | Registered: Jun 2001
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In Theory
Ship's supernova simulator
# 2964
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Posted
Talking of Greek, what's the difference between -nomy and -logy? Should I be offended when people say, "What is it you study - astrology?"
[P.S. Also always wondered, is it a bare midriff or midrift?]
[ 28. December 2004, 17:22: Message edited by: In Theory ]
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Popular culture no longer applies to me.
~ Art Brut
Posts: 1167 | From: Sheffield | Registered: Jun 2002
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Pedant ON:
Midriff. In spite of my son's school's printed dress code.
nomos = law, therefore astro + nomos = "laws of the stars" etymologically speaking, which often has little to do with the current meaning. But in this case it's not too bad. An astronomer studies the laws of nature as they pertain to the stars.
-ology comes from logos, which = meaning, knowledge, science, word, etc. So astrology = "study of the stars." There is nothing to indicate whether the study is bogus or not (or forbidden, for that matter).
Don't get offended when someone screws them up. Sigh wearily like the rest of us do.
PEDANT OFF
[Edited because I screwed up.]
[ 28. December 2004, 18:11: Message edited by: Lamb Chopped ]
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lurker McLurker™
Ship's stowaway
# 1384
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by In Theory:
Talking of Greek, what's the difference between -nomy and -logy? Should I be offended when people say, "What is it you study - astrology?"
[P.S. Also always wondered, is it a bare midriff or midrift?]
I think the word astrology was taken by the time astronomy was invented, so they just hunted for another Greek word that sounded scientific.
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Just War Theory- a perversion of morality?
Posts: 5661 | From: Raxacoricofallapatorius | Registered: Sep 2001
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Sparrow
Shipmate
# 2458
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by In Theory:
[P.S. Also always wondered, is it a bare midriff or midrift?]
Oh, that reminds me - how do you pronounce "forehead"? Our family have always said "fore-head", except for a rather snobbish aunt who says "forrid".
And she says "hiccuff" for "hiccough" which sounds weird to me.
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For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Posts: 3149 | From: Bottom right hand corner of the UK | Registered: Mar 2002
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Hazey*Jane
Ship's Biscuit Crumbs
# 8754
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sparrow:
Oh, that reminds me - how do you pronounce "forehead"? Our family have always said "fore-head", except for a rather snobbish aunt who says "forrid".
I guess it depends. If you want the nursery rhyme 'There was a little girl, who had a little curl...' to work then it's got to be 'forrid'. But I think the usual pronunciation is 'forehead'.
Posts: 4266 | From: UK | Registered: Nov 2004
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nickel
Shipmate
# 8363
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Posted
Just yesterday I came across "sole mate" for "soul mate." I'm sure it was a mistake, for the poor boy in question really does have more than one good friend.
Should I have PM'd the offender?
Posts: 547 | From: Virginia USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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dorothea
Goodwife and low church mystic
# 4398
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Posted
Only just spotted this:
quote:
quote:Originally posted by dorothea:
When encountering this degree of pedantry, it heartens me to recall that Shakespeare had problems spelling his name.
As I understand it, Shakespeare didn't have the idea that there was a "right" way to spell his name.
The idea of standardized spelling of names appears to have come later.
Moo
Excellent point - in heavenly fashion, I concede.
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Protestant head? Catholic Heart?
http://joansbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/
Posts: 1581 | From: Notlob City Limits | Registered: Apr 2003
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Custard
Shipmate
# 5402
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Posted
on the same lines, spelling "cough" as "coff" gets on my nerves as well as being wrong.
[ 29. December 2004, 15:33: Message edited by: Custard. ]
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blog
Adam's likeness, Lord, efface;
Stamp thine image in its place.
Posts: 4523 | From: Snot's Place | Registered: Jan 2004
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
An article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times on whether or not the common communion cup spreads disease was headlined "Does Communion Cup Runneth Over With Germs?" ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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Newman's Own
Shipmate
# 420
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Posted
I always am vaguely puzzled with myself when I hear a sentence that falls strongly into the 'linguistically handicapped' category, and concurrently realise that I understood exactly what the person meant (despite the absurdity of what was actually said.)
A few (true) examples:
I was buying some cream for my face, and the lady behind the counter (hearing that, in middle age, I have oily skin) informed me that "you're lucky - your skin will last longer."
Actual conversation:
Mary: "Andy, is Tony G. dead?"
Andy: "No."
Mary" "You know why I'm asking - I saw him last week."
Worst, perhaps (from a man who was considering buying a car): "I might almost buy a Ford."
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Cheers,
Elizabeth
“History as Revelation is seldom very revealing, and histories of holiness are full of holes.” - Dermot Quinn
Posts: 6740 | From: Library or pub | Registered: Jun 2001
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neandergirl
Opposing the thumb
# 8916
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Posted
I love this thread, I've been laughing so much I have tears, and as a former ESL teacher I thought I'd become immune to such things. Of course, I'm probably good fodder for those who make note of language slip ups.
Rowen's ass/arse story reminds me of a time that not knowing the hemispherical diiferences in the meaning of fanny.
There are websites that archive mistakes like this, but this thread is even better.
Thanks all for a great laugh!
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Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. Hebrews 13:5 NIV
We come from love, we return to love, and all around is love.
Lord, ease our burdens, give us peace and enable us to do your work. Tree Bee
Posts: 2579 | From: 21218 | Registered: Dec 2004
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Gill H
Shipmate
# 68
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Posted
Yes, I know what you mean, Newman's Own. My mother once came out with a classic, and my husband is still amazed that I knew what she meant. After travelling home from my grandfather's house, she commented:
"Well, it's been a good journey - all the traffic has been either with us, or going the other way."
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*sigh* We can’t all be Alan Cresswell.
- Lyda Rose
Posts: 9313 | From: London | Registered: May 2001
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