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Words or phrases that annoy you (even if you can't explain why) . . .
- Thread starter usagora
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Here it is mostly used in connection with crime reporting. Often badly worded, such as "The victim was allegedly beheaded...". It's pretty easy to tell if a victim was beheaded. The lack of head is often a telling hint.
It should be worded as "The victim was beheaded, allegedly by the defendant."
my wife has picked up on it also.
me: hey sweetheart, i've cleaned the bathroom!
her: allegedly …
me: hey sweetheart, i've cleaned the bathroom!
her: allegedly …
Bravo, that is exquisite.
I'm grinning (and applauding with sheer delight) just reading it.
Word order in English doesn't have to be that fixed. I know we don't use endings (Latin, German) to free us completely, but even so.
I think that "The victim was allegedly beheaded by X" is understandable by most people despite the ambiguity.
I think that "The victim was allegedly beheaded by X" is understandable by most people despite the ambiguity.
Well, maybe not all the time, but be careful where you place the word "only" in your sentences.
While it may be understood easily enough by most people, it remains both ambiguous and poorly constructed as a sentence.
A portmanteau is a word that combines two other words or their sounds.
I like the portmanteau intexicated (referring to driving while texting), which I saw in a magazine recently. It seems clever, easy to say, easy to understand, and useful.
I wasn't as pleased with retailtainment, which was in the New York Times. It seems strained, awkward, and unnecessary.
But I guess word beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I like the portmanteau intexicated (referring to driving while texting), which I saw in a magazine recently. It seems clever, easy to say, easy to understand, and useful.
I wasn't as pleased with retailtainment, which was in the New York Times. It seems strained, awkward, and unnecessary.
But I guess word beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Edutainment is a better combination, referring to media that is both entertaining and educational.
Based on my VERY limited linguistic skills, it seems that this a very common practice in German. And not just 2 words but with several words combined into a single word.
You know, weary and wary are DIFFERENT WORDS!! (Okay, I'll admit, I didn't know this until about two weeks ago, but now that I do, it's incredibly annoying seeing the wrong one used.)
ear?
(Yes, the written word can be read silently, but most people also "pronounce" the words they're reading silently.)
Sometimes a word is used incorrectly so frequently that its misuse becomes accepted.
An example is the word enormity. Its original meaning was "the extreme scale or seriousness of something bad or morally wrong." For example, "The enormity of Doctor Q's grammatical nitpicking is horrifying to most readers."
However, many people thought that enormity was a synonym for the (awkward) word enormousness, which it was not. If you need a synonym for enormousness, it's immensity.
But these days, enormity is considered acceptable for either its original meaning or as a synonym for enormousness and immensity. For example, "The enormity of Doctor Q's grammatical nitpicking is wonderful to behold."
An example is the word enormity. Its original meaning was "the extreme scale or seriousness of something bad or morally wrong." For example, "The enormity of Doctor Q's grammatical nitpicking is horrifying to most readers."
However, many people thought that enormity was a synonym for the (awkward) word enormousness, which it was not. If you need a synonym for enormousness, it's immensity.
But these days, enormity is considered acceptable for either its original meaning or as a synonym for enormousness and immensity. For example, "The enormity of Doctor Q's grammatical nitpicking is wonderful to behold."
My favorite portmanteau is humongous. It's the combination of Huge, Monstrous, Gigantic, and Enormous. When it comes to big, it doesn't get much bigger than humongous.😁
You're right! Who needs enormity?
A person of singular density
Displayed an alarming propensity
For using "enormity"
With great uniformity
When all that they meant was "immensity."
Displayed an alarming propensity
For using "enormity"
With great uniformity
When all that they meant was "immensity."
When one needs to embiggen a concept...
For a portmanteau of relatively recent origin (Websters says first known use in 1964), it is interesting that its spelling has already bifurcated with an alternative spelling of humungous. A spelling which seems to move away from the standard etymology put forward.
Let's not miss ginormous - claimed to be RAF slang from WW2 (or before?) with obvious etymology.
Lemme reiterate once again... I AM NOT YOUR BRO. OR YOUR DUDE. Honestly tempted to tell people to stop, cause it's actually getting on my nerves.
The way that some from the US seem to think that adverbs are no longer necessary and need to be eradicated from speech and the written word.
This is a source of considerable annoyance.
And the way that some from the US use "good" ('he/she is good', 'he/she is doing good') instead of 'well' in sentences where the use of well (instead of good) is appropriate really irks me; thus, he or she is well, - they have done well.
This is a source of considerable annoyance.
And the way that some from the US use "good" ('he/she is good', 'he/she is doing good') instead of 'well' in sentences where the use of well (instead of good) is appropriate really irks me; thus, he or she is well, - they have done well.
And a linguistic horror I heard today:
The use of the verb "zippered" - the speaker was from the US, the context was political - and the audience - comprised of Europeans and native speakers (such as Brits) - had never, ever, encountered this bizarre verb employed in such a peculiar context before.
We had to ask what the speaker meant - and what precisely he meant by using this verb, as it made no sense whatsoever.
The use of the verb "zippered" - the speaker was from the US, the context was political - and the audience - comprised of Europeans and native speakers (such as Brits) - had never, ever, encountered this bizarre verb employed in such a peculiar context before.
We had to ask what the speaker meant - and what precisely he meant by using this verb, as it made no sense whatsoever.
Apologies for the lyrics in the song The Wizard and I in the musical Wicked:
If you work as you should
You'll be making good
If I make good
So I'll make good
You'll be making good
If I make good
So I'll make good
Maybe the show should be zippered.
Okay, this one's just bad, I have nothing else to say: "You guys's." Yep, I heard that today! Dunno if it tops "jelly," but it's up there (or down there??) as one of the worst.