I think "difficult to find" is scarce. Bog rolls aren't rare. But you can rarely find them.
nickc - what I meant was people saying "expresso" when what they want is an "espresso"
Oh and "bug" and "insect" are not synonyms. something to with the type of mouth? Bugs have sucking mouths?
Prompted by an instance of its misuse on 6 Music I came here to complain about 'momentarily' but I see that it's already been done. So I shall reminisce instead. Before web forums like this there was Usenet, and one of my favourite Usenet groups was alt.possessive.its.has.no.apostrophe, apihna to its friends. That was full of discussions like this one.
Ah, Usenet, the good ol' Wild West of the internet. I partook in UK.rec.climbing (or "You're arsey") and the C programming one. Fire retardant suit obligatory 😊
legend means...............
I thought it meant “foot.”
Just got this one! Very good
usage, signage, cordage
Bollocks(age)
Bollocks(age)
Wrong thread
nickc – what I meant was people saying “expresso” when what they want is an “espresso”
like saying outwith when they mean outside..? (joke)
There's a weird one (like outwith) in Yorkshire, people use "while" to mean between. For instance "8 while 6" used to indicate that a shop is open from 8am to 6pm. Took some getting used to.
“More football then anywhere else” on 5live earlier this year. Needed to buy a new wireless after that
Ah, Usenet, the good ol’ Wild West of the internet.
alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die always made me giggle.
nickc - here we get " where do you stay?" meaning "where do you live?"
Slight OT, but when people say 3 AM in the morning *, of course it’s the morning you said AM,
But the same person doesn’t say it’s 3pm in the afternoon . ****
* other times are available
Fella, rather than fellow.
Confusing infer with imply.
The apparent confusion between distance and isolate.
Ah, Usenet, the good ol’ Wild West of the internet.
I'm still in regular touch with the folk from alt.peeves
3 AM in the morning
A tautology. I do enjoy a tautology. Domestic crisis at home is my favourite.
A close cousin of RAS Syndrome.
12am and 12pm irritate me, as much for the ambiguity as pedantry. Literally, both mean midnight, which I don't think is what is usually meant.
12 pm is the start of the afternoon
its surely 12md and 12mn - mid day and midnight
nickc – what I meant was people saying “expresso” when what they want is an “espresso”
You must've misused some words, because you said it was nothing to do with being fast, even though a proper espresso is, demonstrably, fast to both prepare and to drink.
I'm going to bring back up the musical one since no one's commented.The musical scale has seven notes then the pattern repeats. Calling it an octave brings about all sorts of complications since subsequent scales only have seven i.e. a three octave scale only has 22 notes not 24 also the 13th is the same note as the 6th but an "octave" higher.
12 pm is the start of the afternoon
pm is short for 'post meridian' meaning 'after noon' so 12pm is 12hrs after noon, which makes it midnight
The pedants revolt
There’s a weird one (like outwith) in Yorkshire, people use “while” to mean between. For instance “8 while 6” used to indicate that a shop is open from 8am to 6pm. Took some getting used to.
Here in ayrshire 'mind' is sort of used in the place of 'remember'.
Hence when the train pulls into the station here and the recorded announcement tells people to 'mind the step whilst alighting' you'll often here the humorous exchange between passengers as they step off the train -
"mind the step?"
"Aye I mind the step"
"Aye. It was a good step that one"
12pm is 12hrs after noon
On that logic, 9 A.M. would be 9 hours before noon, which would be what normal people call 3 A.M. It's not 12 hours after noon, it's twelve o'clock, post meridian, which is noon. This is because everyone has agreed on that convention. 12 A.M. is midnight because everyone has agreed that that's what it means.
How is it that we're 5 pages in and no one has mentioned that essential is being completely misused these days?
I’m going to bring back up the musical one since no one’s commented.The musical scale has seven notes then the pattern repeats. Calling it an octave brings about all sorts of complications since subsequent scales only have seven i.e. a three octave scale only has 22 notes not 24 also the 13th is the same note as the 6th but an “octave” higher.
Except there are 12 notes in an Octave in western music, or between octave intervals....... You are perhaps confusing Octave with Scale (or they are) The Octave is the distance between harmonic intervals, so yes, in a three Octave scale there are three tonic notes (Doh) because, traditionally and for the sake of our ears, we always want to resolve the scale on a tonic note. There are many different scales, and each one can be subdivided into modes depending on the relationship between the root, (tonic) the third, the fifth, and then the inclusion or omission of various notes in between . So for example a blues scale is based on a pentatonic scale (root, second, third, fifth and sixth notes of the major scale) but to that scale we add one or more chromatic notes to change the mode, so a major blues scale is root, second, flat third, third, fifth and sixth. A minor blues adds in a flat fifth to the minor pentatonic scale to give 1-b3-4-b5-5-b7. In many ways, the resolution from the 7th to the octave tonic determines the feel of the scale.
The important thing for a pianist is to recognise that there is an octave interval every twelve keys, with the 13th key being an octave above the root. The success of a guitarist depends on knowing where the tonic of the key is to be found, and learning the shape of the boxes or positions to be played, depending on the mode of the scale in use.
On that logic, 9 A.M. would be 9 hours before noon, which would be what normal people call 3 A.M.
Fair point.
It’s not 12 hours after noon, it’s twelve o’clock, post meridian, which is noon.
Noon can't be post meridian any more than it can be ante meridian. I'll agree that 12:05pm is 5 min after noon, but 12 noon can't be am or pm.
This is because everyone has agreed on that convention. 12 A.M. is midnight because everyone has agreed that that’s what it means.
I didn't know that, as a member of 'everyone', so it's not true.
as a member of ‘everyone’,
Didn’t you get the memo? Your membership has been rescinded. That’s why there’s not an ‘E’ next to your name.
I didn’t know that, as a member of ‘everyone’, so it’s not true.
There's a qualifying test for membership, keeps the riff-raff out.
Insane.
Quad bike for a vehicle with 4 wheels.
Quad bike for a vehicle with 4 wheels.
So you're denying this should be considered a bicycle?
'Incredulous' is often used to add a bit of sophistication but its misapplication very amusingly does quite the reverse.
Have we done yourself/myself yet?
Have we done yourself/myself yet?
I'm doing it now.
12am might mean midnight...but which midnight? Always better to use 23:59 or 00:01
Eg meet you at 12am on Tuesday...does that mean the midnight between Monday and Tuesday or the midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday...people get very confused on this point and tend to attack the enemy 24hrs before or after you would expect.
Stick to 23:59 Zulu
“Epicentre”...when you mean “centre”
Eg meet you at 12am on Tuesday…does that mean the midnight between Monday and Tuesday or the midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday
A.M. on Tuesday means the morning before noon on Tuesday. The midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday is A.M. on Wednesday.
To add to this we have the confusion between :
British Isles, United kingdom, great Britain, Britain and england. Add Hibernia and Alba to that and even residents of these isles rarely get it right
[...Britain and england...] even residents of these isles rarely get it right
Now I'm convinced you're doing this on purpose. I mean, I know you love your adopted country; but last I looked most others were still graced with capitalisation.
Have you never heard England being used as a synonym for Great Britain? I have. I have been asked while abroad " all english passport holders.........." Its less common that it used to be but still happens
Errmmm- do do realise this is not meant as a serious thread don't you? I mean I have not actually been fact checking the stuff I have been spouting and have already been shot down in flames several times
Ha! Yes! Just got that misuse of "essential". Well done dangeryourbrain.
Probably already been covered bit there seems to be confusion between bought and brought. "I brought a bike for £500". No, you bought a bike. You may have brought it home after you bought it though.
