I love some of the speelin masticks on ebay. Last weekend I was looking at a rake of Farish coaches one of which was advertised as a BR/SR Green "restraint" car! well!! all I can say is that they get up to more things in Haywards Heath than I Imagined!
Quote from: Highland Handlebar on April 26, 2018, 09:09:10 PM
I love some of the speelin masticks on ebay. Last weekend I was looking at a rake of Farish coaches one of which was advertised as a BR/SR Green "restraint" car! well!! all I can say is that they get up to more things in Haywards Heath than I Imagined!
They were used on the football specials. :D
I think the ITV news at 18.30hrs tonight beat that by putting up a notice that TSB had waved interest as a small compensation for all the trouble they have caused.
Sorry, but edyoucayshunul standards are going down the toylette ::)
Or Planet Rock yesterday
"The M25 is at a standstill just outside London" :doh:
It's definitely not just eBay, I agree that most people's standard of written Inglish is very pore.
Loosing. Should of. You're/your or there/their/they're confusion. Hangable offences!
Totally agree with the above. Why people can not write "They're having their tea over there" and know the difference between the spellings, is beyond me! Whilst I do abbreviate words, e.g. isn't, I usually only do it when writing informally, like wot I do on 'ere :). If I am writing something 'proper' I like to write the words out correctly. Down to my upbringing I suppose and what I like to think of as being educated correctly. So are we blaming teaching standards these days? But that is another topic. ;D
I think it's vastly different on a forum as we are all mainly unaware of what other people suffer from e.g. dyslexia but, I'm sorry, there is no excuse for a national TV station to spell things incorrectly. Poor English abounds nowadays with far too much use of 'gunna' instead of 'going to', 'to' has become 'tuh' and if the following word begins with a vowel then the whole thing becomes mangled!
Don't even get me started on those who use 'like' every other word or began every sentence with 'So....'
(pretentious prats)
Variety being the spice of life, I have purchased items which are N guage, N gouge, and N gorge and many break second couches
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 26, 2018, 10:26:40 PM
I think it's vastly different on a forum as we are all mainly unaware of what other people suffer from e.g. dyslexia but, I'm sorry, there is no excuse for a national TV station to spell things incorrectly. Poor English abounds nowadays with far too much use of 'gunna' instead of 'going to', 'to' has become 'tuh' and if the following word begins with a vowel then the whole thing becomes mangled!
Don't even get me started on those who use 'like' every other word or began every sentence with 'So....'
(pretentious prats)
My daughters both live in Texas, as I did for many years. I cringe when we talk and I hear "I'ma do that!" - even the 'gunna' has been dropped!
I also have a problem with those who say "um" or "em" between every pair of words.
So - that's, em, enough from, um, me for, eh, now. Cheri, um, o...
Most of my last decade of working was spent in two colleges. Whilst my students were not particularly academic, I was taken aback at their lack of basic grammer. There does appear to be high levels of dyslexia these days, and the larger college I worked at had two full time dyslexia advisors. I attended a lecture for staff on dyslexia given by a Dr Stein from an Oxford University. Whilst introducing himself he said "some of you may have heard of my younger brother, he has a few fish restaurants"
My jaw dropped when we had to take a whole class to the college library and explain to them how it functioned. Crikey, as soon as I was five years old my late Father took me to the local library and arranged Junior tickets for me. I have use libraries ever since, although they are becoming a tad difficult to find due to closures by local authorities.
I also recall when a class of students on an engineering course were asked to find two online articles on a famous engineer of their choice. The task was to type up their own article on the engineer, merging the the text of the two online articles without copying word for word. This proved to be quite difficult for many of them, and punctuation was all but missing in several cases.
Times have certainly changed, and yes it can be witnessed in many ebay ad's.
I am far from perfect, and sometimes I go back to edit posts. Indeed there may be errors within this post.
Those of us in our 60s will likely have spent a lot of school time writing out stories, passages of text and composing text for our personal interest projects. All of this enhanced word recognition, and mistakes were (in my case) corrected in red biro as the teacher read it through. I suppose that I will be showing my age if I say "things aren't what they used to be"
If you'll pardon me being a teacher.................
Quote from: trkilliman on April 27, 2018, 07:14:57 AM
Whilst my students were not particularly academic, I was taken aback at their lack of basic grammer.
Those of us in our 60s will likely have spent a lot of school time writing out stories, passages of text and composing text for our personal interest projects. All of this enhanced word recognition, and mistakes were (in my case) corrected in red biro as the teacher read it through. I suppose that I will be showing my age if I say "things aren't what they used to be"
Grammar
No problem Newportnobby...top of the class and a gold star for you.
I wondered how long it would take for it to be picked up...I have also put another one in.
"merging the the texts"? One too many 'the's
"ad's"? No requirement for an apostrophe :no:
Ad's - that well known punctuation mark, the grocers' apostrophe.
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 27, 2018, 10:07:02 AM
"ad's"? No requirement for an apostrophe :no:
I know we have had this discussion previously on the forum and I do not intend this comment to be a resurrection of the topic, but I was always told that when letters were missing from a word, an apostrophe was to be used. As @trkilliman (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=2838) says - "things aren't what they used to be". ;)
At a nearby shopping centre is a stall where flowers are sold. Run by Doris, for the past decade it was called something like "Doriss Flower's". The signs on the stall were recently repainted with brand new lettering reading "Doriss flower's".
One of my favourites is the confusion between "led" and "lead" used as the past tense of the verb "to lead".
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 27, 2018, 10:07:02 AM
"ad's"? No requirement for an apostrophe :no:
People seem to have a particular apostrophe confusion when using the plural form of three letter acronyms (TLAs). EMUs becomes EMU's for some reason.
Whilst on the TLA subject, there was a recent exchange on one of the French modelling sites concerning a post by a train driver which was made up largely of TLAs. It was gibberish to me. I was not alone, and we all learned a lot when the OP was deciphered into regular French.
One of the best idiots on TV is Paul Martin off 'Flog It'.
I've heard him say 'dutifulness' (how about just duty, Paul?)
also
'Take this away as a momento' (not a memento, then, Paul?)
Going back to the apostrophe thingy I was taught it replaces 'it is' such as in Spring's here' or as in possession e.g. 'Spring's warm sun'
I could see no need for the apostrophe in 'ad's'. If anything it should have had a full stop after it as it was an abbreviation i.e. ads.
This is a grate fred. I'm luving it! I must admit many years ago, as a teenager, I wrote "First Site" on a folder instead of First Sight. I think I've improved since then. I of red avidly since I first learnt. Even read the Sanilav bottle whilst I was bored and waiting for things to happen. My most hated too, are of instead of have and the so to start a sentence. Red lines and corrections welcome but no slipper or ruler. I had the ruler across my hands a few times because they were dirty at the start of the technical drawing class.
Dave
The problem with the 'of' versus 'have' thing is at some point folks started using a contraction of 'should have' or 'would have' and they became 'should've' and 'would've'. This is accepted now but when they are spoken they sound like 'should of' and 'would of' hence the usage.
Another of my pet hates is the use of 'that' when it's completely unnecessary. As an example, in the first sentence above I could have typed.....
"The problem with the 'of' versus 'have' thing is that at some point..................."
It would have been a pointless insertion of 'that' as the sentence carries the meaning perfectly well without it. For those who read a lot (and I certainly do) you may find you now notice all the 'thats' and realise the average paperback could have been (or could've been) several pages shorter! :)
Quote from: dannyboy on April 27, 2018, 10:54:13 AM
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 27, 2018, 10:07:02 AM
"ad's"? No requirement for an apostrophe :no:
I know we have had this discussion previously on the forum and I do not intend this comment to be a resurrection of the topic, but I was always told that when letters were missing from a word, an apostrophe was to be used. As @trkilliman (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=2838) says - "things aren't what they used to be". ;)
Technically true, but then would you write ad'? It's an oft used justification for photo's, as a contraction of photographs, but you'd not write photo' so there's no reason for the apostrophe in the plural. Only time you ever need apostrophes in plurals is lower case letters: "dot the i's and cross the t's" or acronyms featuring upper and lower case letters; "PhD's", but even that's a negotiable!
No apostrophe for a possessive it either, "it's" is a contraction of 'it is', so it's "the thread was losing its way" not "it's way".
I may of [sic] mentioned this before, but I live in Japan and despite it having an insanely complex and arbitrary written language, I very rarely (well basically never) see obvious blooper's[sic] in public writing. You do see evidence that something has been corrected, for example earlier today I was standing at my local bus stop (hi @Bealman (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?action=profile;u=255) !) and noticed a single character on a sign there had had a sticker (in an identical font and colour) stuck over it, presumably as someone had noticed an error.
(Now, English signage in Japan is a totally different kettle of ghoti (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti)...)
Dunno what you're talking about...
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/de/08/14de08d708a85fa95a994636d0346e69.jpg)
That's from China, but I gather it suffers from a similar English problem...
Anyway where did I leave my sanity?
Oh yes, right here:
(http://japan-train-blog.infogogo.com/static/misc/sanity.jpg)
one of my favourites on e bay was
a 'fright' train.....
poss from a high class seller ?
Quote from: njee20 on April 27, 2018, 12:12:17 PM
No apostrophe for a possessive it either, "it's" is a contraction of 'it is', so it's "the thread was losing its way" not "it's way".
You're right: no apostrophe is required for possessive
pronouns. The confusion arises precisely because an apostrophe
is used for nouns, e.g. 'the man's waistcoat'.
Can we bring American words into this discussion.
My favourite was a TV presenter describing how a poor man was burgularised when he was out.
Oh dear....
Yes that is a particularly horrific mutiliation of the language!
Whenever I hear anyone say "burgalry" on the telly I always find myself yelling at the TV screen "Spell that please!" Exactly the same with the (seemingly) large numbers of TV people who say "nucular" instead of "nuclear". Anne Robinson always used to say "cuttelry" (my spelling) rather than "cutlery" and I did hear one lady weather forecaster say "wintery showers" when we all know it's "wintry" ::)
It looks as if I have unleashed a monster!!
Going back to the original issue of Ebay, the spelling mistakes can be the source of bargains. The misspellings result in items not showing up in correctly spelled simple searches. I am not much of Ebay searcher but recently we have has "virgon" and "pendalino" in the Virgin Pendolino listings.
I got a DCC fitted Voyager just listed as "N Gauge" recently.
Seen recently on there - a Graham Fetish Class 08
Its not only spellings, some translations suffer as well, notice seen in the grounds of Taipei water works (Taiwan) "Dangerous snacks inhabit this area" (vision of a packet of Cheese and Onion Chrisps jumping out of the long Grass perhaps) !
Martin
Their ar bargings too be had on eebay coz of spooling mitsakes tho.
www.fatfingers.com (http://www.fatfingers.com) is worth a look. It will pull up a lot of dreck but sometimes a real gem.
I think my favourite spelling was a graham Farage horse box
I have a saved search for " N Guage", prooving quite fruitful.
Quote from: Newportnobby on April 27, 2018, 11:58:32 AM
The problem with the 'of' versus 'have' thing is at some point folks started using a contraction of 'should have' or 'would have' and they became 'should've' and 'would've'. This is accepted now but when they are spoken they sound like 'should of' and 'would of' hence the usage.
Another of my pet hates is the use of 'that' when it's completely unnecessary. As an example, in the first sentence above I could have typed.....
"The problem with the 'of' versus 'have' thing is that at some point..................."
It would have been a pointless insertion of 'that' as the sentence carries the meaning perfectly well without it. For those who read a lot (and I certainly do) you may find you now notice all the 'thats' and realise the average paperback could have been (or could've been) several pages shorter! :)
I think "Thumb Texting" is to blame for a lot of the mis-spellings (& lack of hyphens), but it is also influencing pronunciation - "create" is now pronounced "crate" (or "cr8"), and, as you point out, would've is usually pronounced "would of", as it is often spelled. I hadn't noticed the use of "So..." to begin an answer to a question until Rex Kennedy pointed it out in one of his editorials some years ago; now, it grates on me in just about every interview on TV.
Quote from: njee20 on April 26, 2018, 09:51:08 PM
It's definitely not just eBay, I agree that most people's standard of written Inglish is very pore.
Loosing. Should of. You're/your or there/their/they're confusion. Hangable offences!
Unfortunately, I often find I've typed "you" instead of "your" (but definitely nor "you're"), but that's down to my keyboard skills & incipient arthritis. Unfortunately, I suspect most of the other incidences I see are not attributable to the same causes.
Quote from: dannyboy on April 26, 2018, 10:04:14 PM
Totally agree with the above. Why people can not write "They're having their tea over there" and know the difference between the spellings, is beyond me! Whilst I do abbreviate words, e.g. isn't, I usually only do it when writing informally, like wot I do on 'ere :). If I am writing something 'proper' I like to write the words out correctly. Down to my upbringing I suppose and what I like to think of as being educated correctly. So are we blaming teaching standards these days? But that is another topic. ;D
Having worked in an environment where the over-50s were very much in the minority, I can say with a degree of confidence that educational standards have certainly changed, not for the better. I suspect it has been the result of policy changes instigated by trendy pedagogues, psychologists and others who train the teachers. The existence of such expressions as "speak as you read" would tend to illustrate this point.
Oh, and as a Parthian shot, why has "of" become the preposition of choice in expressions such as "bored of"? Others do seem to crop up with alarming frequency.
Quote from: Highland Handlebar on April 26, 2018, 10:45:25 PM
Variety being the spice of life, I have purchased items which are N guage, N gouge, and N gorge and many break second couches
150 years ago or so, "break" was the accepted spelling. Language changes. It just doesn't always change for the better.
Quote from: Malc on April 27, 2018, 10:37:48 AM
Ad's - that well known punctuation mark, the grocers' apostrophe.
Please stop, before I split my sides with laughter.
Arghhh NO the The Loch Ness Monster... Though I don't remember him ever reaching Inbhir Nis High School. I do remember some of the teachers there...
Quote from: SheldonC on June 29, 2018, 11:04:02 AM
Quote from: Highland Handlebar on April 26, 2018, 10:45:25 PM
Variety being the spice of life, I have purchased items which are N guage, N gouge, and N gorge and many break second couches
150 years ago or so, "break" was the accepted spelling. Language changes. It just doesn't always change for the better.
That is one that drives me mad - particularly when it appears in newspapers (where they should know better) or motoring related forums (where you'd hope people are interested enough in the subject to know the correct spelling).
Misspelling I can sometimes forgive but never the Malapropism of words. I suspect misspelling occurs due to the use of predictive text, but there again so may Malapropism.
You may look no further than this forum for examples of Malapropism especially.
Any pacific examples of that?
It's almost as bad as random capitalisation of words that shouldn't be ;-)
I resemble that remark! :D
Try reading the book Feersum Endjinn by Iain M Banks, most of it is written in a form of pigeon English, when you see the words it makes no sense, however once you say what you see it does make sense, it's a hard book to read, but it gives you an idea how difficult the English language can be.
Quote from: bob lawrence on June 29, 2018, 12:40:41 PM
I suspect misspelling occurs due to the use of predictive text, but there again so may Malapropism.
In many of my own cases it's more a case of the fingers notkeeping pace with the mind.
Jus like that!
here is the latest, great western cholestery coaches.
Obviously arriving at Paddington statin!!
Quote from: Highland Handlebar on October 13, 2018, 09:35:13 PM
here is the latest, great western cholestery coaches.
Obviously arriving at Paddington statin!!
:laughabovepost:
What about pronunciations? I keep seeing an advert on TV for Anusol. They pronounce it Anu-sol but surely when you think what it is used for it sshould be Anus-ol. The "ol" could even be a shortened version of hole but let's not go there or we'll never get to the bottom of it :goggleeyes:
Comments like that will make you the butt of other peoples jokes. ;)
Quote from: dannyboy on April 26, 2018, 10:04:14 PM
Totally agree with the above. Why people can not write "They're having their tea over there" and know the difference between the spellings, is beyond me! Whilst I do abbreviate words, e.g. isn't, I usually only do it when writing informally, like wot I do on 'ere :). If I am writing something 'proper' I like to write the words out correctly. Down to my upbringing I suppose and what I like to think of as being educated correctly. So are we blaming teaching standards these days? But that is another topic. ;D
Could it be an age thing?
I spent several years working with a large proportion of under-30s, whose education seemed to have been so different from my own that they had little in common - a phenomenon that was aggravated by their use of texting abbreviations. I have noticed the latter has even leached over into the spoken language, such as "crate" instead of "create". Is there no hope?
I'm 32, and find the written English of many to be dire, age is not a factor.
Quote from: SheldonC on November 17, 2018, 08:59:10 PM
Is there no hope?
None whatsoever. The digital age has killed off what remained of the English language. People don't write any more but type, using abbreviations which cannot be understood half the time. Off topic but there was talk on Breakfast BBC this morning that e games may become an Olympic sport.
The end is nigh :dighole:
Quote from: njee20 on November 17, 2018, 09:40:26 PM
I'm 32, and find the written English of many to be dire, age is not a factor.
That's one hypothesis down the pan, then. But perhaps you are a sign that there is some hope for the language.
I certainly consider myself a shining beacon of hope for the human race ;)
I remember English classes back when I was in school, We got essays and had to write them out in pen, they had to be a certain amount of pages, and spelling and punctuation had to be correct.
Did the modern age of puters and speel cheekers change all dat?
No, you tended to get word counts because that was easy to check, although at uni we went back to page counts.
Most mistakes people make would pass spell checkers anyway - loose is the opposite of tight, "should of", their/there/they're etc.
Having taught teenagers for all of my working life, I have steered short of this thread, as I have many thoughts on this.
For a start, not all people, including students at high school, are unskilled at writing English. Some teenagers I've taught over the years were proud of their writing skills.
However, there are some gapingly obvious disasters out there, but as far as I'm concerned, it boils down to how much you let it annoy you.
It does feel like lazy excuses "young people today can't write...". I guess the proliferation of initialisms and acronyms are driven primarily from social media, which is more the preserve of the young, but that's more evolution than actually incorrect. Unlike "I don't like there products", which is just wrong, and transcends generations!
Poor spelling, incorrect punctuation and grammatical errors really, really irritate me.
As an example, We have taxis running around here with ————- Taxi's Advanced Booking's Only emblazened on the side. I have deliberately not included the name of the company.
If it were my business I'd make absolutely sure that any promotional material was absolutely correct.
However, language is an evolving beast. What was acceptable in the 1950s say, may well have been frowned upon by those born 50 years earlier.
So....whilst many of us, myself very much included, find all this really annoying, I would suggest that in 40 years or so, the language of today will become the norm.
Incidentally, would norm be an acceptable word 100 years ago ? I know not but I'd hazard a guess that it would not.
Just my thoughts.
All languages are constantly evolving to suit the period.
Think of new words that have been introduced in our lifetimes and then you don't hear them too much any more - like Biro.
Back in the seventies, everyone knew that was a pen. I doubt many young people would know that today.
However, I feel grammar is still important, particularly when typing on things like this forum.
Using a smartphone as I am now is particularly difficult!
I heartily recommend a book by Gyles Brandreth entitled "Have you eaten Grandma?" which very humourously deals with grammatical and punctuation errors. Gyles (a Marmite type who personally I find hilarious) is quite scrupulous about the English language whilst allowing for change.
Obviously there is a comma missing from the book title which changes the meaning completely and that, in the main, is what the book is about
I'd be surprised if anyone here didn't know what a Biro was (although the capitalisation thereof is interesting, as it's become synonymous with ballpoint pens, particularly those clear plastic disposable ones, rather than those purely made by Bic, so I'd probably write "biro" more commonly), but fully accept we share only parts of a common language!
I still think we have evolution; that is new words (omnishambles, smartphone), abbreviations which become correct (phone, photo) and initialisms (LOL, OMG) which become woven into the language, but I can't foresee a time when your/you're are the same thing. That's just wrong, and the two common excuses for errors, either "language evolves" or "as long as It can be understood then it's fine" are even more annoying than the errors themselves. IMHO ;)
Edit: And to Nobby's point:
(https://pics.me.me/i-like-cooking-my-family-and-my-pets-use-commas-28525790.png)
Just as with learning my 'Times Table', my teachers throughout my schooling were very strict and exacting when it came to grammar, punctuation, and most memorably, spelling. All deviations from what was laid down by such rules as were given in volumes written by one Ronald Ridout, and daily enforced by teachers, was most pointedly highlighted by seemingly endless use of the red ink pen.
Almost every day my written works would be returned to me emblazoned with red markings, usually in the form of bold straight lines through every error, and with often near illegible corrections and exhortations to "do better", or, most disarmingly, the feared instruction to "See me!".
And so I learned what some might call 'the hard way' the complex rules of the language that is named after my country. I don't profess to have a perfect mastery of the art, and I am guilty of many a slip with pen and lip, but I like to think that those school days have served their purpose admirably.
But since those far off days when seeing a red line through beleive or neccesary would have me muttering under my breath, much seems to have changed. I know little of modern teaching methods, though I despaired as my much younger brother went through his formative schooling and was subjected to the experiment of the Initial Teaching Alphabet; and when I married and became step-father to already teenage children, I was sadly surprised to see that their written works for school were rarely corrected for grammar, syntax or spelling, the explanation I received at the time being that meaning was more important than the exact form of word or words.
So it comes as no surprise to me that the written word of some is so poorly related to what Mr Ridout expounded all those years ago. And the www (sadly not an acronym for the wonderful world of words) and the advent of the mobile phone has seemingly engendered an exponential decline in what I was taught to consider 'correct' usage of the English language.
But then I'm an old fart and yesterday's rules no longer apply in so many things. L.P. Hartley (not J.R. of 'Flyfishing' fame) once wrote that "the past is a foreign country: they do things differently there". But for me, as I'm sure it is for many of my generation, it is the present that seems to be that foreign land. At least as far as modern English language usage by some is concerned.
My sister went through school only six years behind me, yet she had reached sixth form and was taking A-level English, without ever being taught the use of the apostrophe!
The Greengrocers' apostrophe. Carrot's, leek's etc.
That is pretty weird.
I admit I sat my A-levels in 2004, and thus did primary school in the mid-90s, so not that recently, but I remember having 'dictation' as an 8 year old, where the teacher would read aloud and we'd have to obviously spell it all, and punctuate appropriately.
I did an English language A-level too, which was fascinating. There were points on offer for correct spelling, punctuation and grammar too!
A genuine shame if things have degraded since.
Use of apostrophes is particularly dire!
I've lived overseas for 27 years so I observe the evolution of the English language from a distance.
Things I don't like :
- using "impacted by" instead of affected by
- "stakeholders" instead of "interested parties"
- using "eco-system" instead of "environment"
- talking about the "DNA" instead of the culture of an organisation
- no-brainer
Things I do like :
"defo" - reminds me of when we used to say "let's have a dekko".
Best regards,
Joe (61 years)
There is a prime example of the importance of capital letters that involves assisting a male relative to dismount an equine quadruped. I will not post it here, as it may fall foul of the "Family Forum" policy.
Most obvious example of capital letters changing meaning.
Polish- nationality
polish- beeswax preparation
Online news feeds are major users - or rather abusers - of the capital letter.
On my iPad the Apple News app has too prime culprits in this regard:
The Huffington Post always post their headlines with initial capitals on every word. For example, today's feed has:
Orange County, A Conservative Bastion, Turns Blue For The First Time In Decades
HuffPost is not alone in this irritating habit.
The Express likes to capitalise what it considers important words in headlines, often innocuous verb forms like MUST, or WILL, and also likes to omit punctuation.
I really HATE this AWFUL use OF the WRITTEN word.
.... or should I say
I REALLY hate THIS awful USE of THE written WORD.
Quote from: javlinfaw7 on November 18, 2018, 10:13:55 PM
Most obvious example of capital letters changing meaning.
Polish- nationality
polish- beeswax preparation
:thumbsup: Good example
(is my emoticon part of my sentence, if so perhaps I should type :thumbsup: good example ? )
Contemplating polish I was reminded of French polish that uses shellac in methylated spirit(s). Perhaps we should downgrade that to french polish. :)
Googling it wikipedia gets it right, but many other sites call it French Polish which in the current febrile atmosphere in Europe could risk a (don't mention it)
war !
Dear me what a state we do wind ourselves into since the invention of the printing press and typesetting !
Which came first, the language or the rules ?
It amuses me to think of the ancients sitting down one day to invent a language with sufficiently complex rules to utterly confuse these foreigners that have come amongst us.
Quote from: daffy on November 18, 2018, 10:52:42 PM
On my iPad the Apple News app has too prime culprits in this regard:
In keeping with the spirit of the thread: "two prime culprits", perhaps.
I know that there are many prime numbers
but is not a prime suspect unique ie. not plural ?
Prime doesn't necessarily mean a singular ultimate occurrence as it can denote a grade, class, example, group, etc.
Consider "a prime example of ....". Not the definite article "the" but part of the group of examples. "The prime example" is, of course, unique.
So "two prime examples" would be two of the unspecified number of the group of the leading examples of culprits.
Quote from: javlinfaw7 on November 18, 2018, 10:13:55 PM
Most obvious example of capital letters changing meaning.
Polish- nationality
polish- beeswax preparation
I have to put my hands up here. A few years ago I was walking along a road in Portsmouth and saw across the road what was called and written as "THE POLISH SHOP". I was wondering for ages how a shop could survive these days just selling polish. When I walked back the other way it suddenly clicked and I called myself all sorts of names when I realised that it was in fact a Polish shop. Anyone walking past me must have thought I was mad as I couldn't help but chuckle to myself as I walked :doh:
Words that change meaning (not necessarily pronunciation eg China/china) when capitalised are called capitonyms. Fun fact. Polish/polish and Reading/reading are the ones that spring to mind!
Capital!
Sometimes I think some folks overthink.
Other times I think molly-coddling has reached the silly level.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/19/capitalised-words-should-not-used-university-staff-setting-assignments/ (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/19/capitalised-words-should-not-used-university-staff-setting-assignments/)
Most times I just laugh.
Quote from: NinOz on November 19, 2018, 04:02:35 AM
Prime doesn't necessarily mean a singular ultimate occurrence as it can denote a grade, class, example, group, etc.
Consider "a prime example of ....". Not the definite article "the" but part of the group of examples. "The prime example" is, of course, unique.
So "two prime examples" would be two of the unspecified number of the group of the leading examples of culprits.
Don't forget a person e.g. a culprit could be primed - as in coached to do/say something.
And you could always prime a pump. To be honest, I think this subject is now past its prime. ;)
I suggest that the N Gauge Forum may be calling the proverbial kettle black...
In the current thread about the Hattons N gauge Beyer Garratt announcement I noticed the following (mis-) spellings:
Bayer Garet
Beyer Garrett
Garrat
Garrett
Garratt and Garrett (twice) in the same post.
"Let him who is without..." etc.
Quote from: ODRAILS on November 21, 2018, 05:12:11 PM
I suggest that the N Gauge Forum may be calling the proverbial kettle black...
In the current thread about the Hattons N gauge Beyer Garratt announcement I noticed the following (mis-) spellings:
Bayer Garet
Beyer Garrett
Garrat
Garrett
Garratt and Garrett (twice) in the same post.
"Let him who is without..." etc.
I'll bet u ave chequed that abut 10X befour posting, gust to mak shure the fingas did wat the ead said.
:laughabovepost:
I'm amused that the Q had to edit that post, like there was a mistake in it...!
That would, my dear Chap, be because I found it Very difficult, to write that badly. :D
Chap? Very? Why the random Capitals? ;)
I always proof read replies about ten times when it's a grammar related thread! :-[
and on the ninth reading he substituted "like" for "as though" ?
Quote from: The Q on November 23, 2018, 12:50:17 PM
That would, my dear Chap, be because I found it Very difficult, to write that badly. :D
I think there is an opening there for a student of Churchill to volunteer "Oh I don't know old chap, you usually make it look quite easy" !
:laugh: ducks&runs
I know Oliver Bullied designed some strange things in his time, but for the firm that makes them to be called Graham Garish ???
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/n-gauge-locomotives-Graham-Garish-Battle-Of-Britain-Class-Winston-Churchill/392199281201?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649 (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/n-gauge-locomotives-Graham-Garish-Battle-Of-Britain-Class-Winston-Churchill/392199281201?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649)
True, but then again Oliver's surname is BULLEID not Bullied, although he might have been at school for all I know ;)
Quote from: Newportnobby on December 25, 2018, 07:04:34 PM
True, but then again Oliver's surname is BULLEID not Bullied, although he might have been at school for all I know ;)
All those bullied pacifics. I never noticed his name was spelled differently. shocking mistake.
Bob