OneGuyFromBarlick

Never use them myself David but I think You're right.... (Trust them to have their own grammar.....)

I note King Charles choice of regnal name with interest. I doubt he got the brand name experts to look at it. They do charge an awful lot of money and often state the obvious in return. I'd have done the job for nowt, and pointed out that his name is identical to a well known breed of dog. I'm surprised that Private Eye are not calling the heir to Brenda 'The Spaniel' already.


Is a King Charles a good family king?

Energetic and loving, the King Charles makes the perfect family king, but it must be stressed they are kings that belong with people. They are not kings to be left alone or housed outside as they thrive on human contact."

He should have chosen his middle name. King Arthur has a certain ring to it.

Or refused the job on the grounds of age and infirmity.....

David went off on a pedant's post in another topic and mentioned 'cock loft' , a word I have used often over the years. One of the things I used it for was the canopy over the cab that was part of the cattle wagon body, a useful space for all sorts of equipment and also used for carrying new born calves wrapped up in a hessian bag with just their heads sticking out.



I always referred to it as the cock loft but in Scotland they had a different name, 'the dooket', I later learned that there was a connection with cockloft in that this was a corrupted form of 'dove cote'.
Further, a common feature on old designs of canal boat was the small ventilator over the engine that was shaped like a house and glazed. It was always referred to as the pigeon box.



Aren't words wonderful!

Stanley wrote: ↑04 Nov 2022, 04:54 Aren't words wonderful!

Amen to that, and thanks for 'dooket'

Now for a bit more pedantry - sorry. Uncle Bob used the word 'sophomorical' today. I knew that a sophomore was a second year university student, but didn't realise they had any common characteristics. Seems more correct would be 'sophomoric'. Before you ask - I'm not telling him.

1 : conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature a sophomoric argument. 2 : lacking in maturity, taste, or judgment sophomoric humor.

PS Having read the defintion again - I think I may have the ' late onset' version.

Good stuff David.
'sophomorical' caught my attention as well but as I never used the word and didn't really know what it means I ignored it.

The importance of exact word meaning is demonstrated again today.


" James Stunt (who he? Ed.) claimed he didn't commit a crime by instructing his PA to 'forge my signature' to buy an Andy Warhol painting because 'forge means make a friendship.'

Sounds like a cast iron pedant's defence to me.

PS that pun wasn't intentional, but I'm quite pleased with it. (forge cast iron)

Problem is David that you can't forge cast iron. You have to convert it to wrought iron or steel before it becomes malleable.......
Sorry, but to me 'forge' in this context is still deception.
Will you 'no platform' me now for dissent?

Reading an old newspaper report came across 'enciente' and what's more the dastard refused to marry the girl.
Over to you Sue.

plaques wrote: ↑10 Nov 2022, 10:45 Reading an old newspaper report came across 'enciente' and what's more the dastard refused to marry the girl.
Over to you Sue.

I have a similar circumstance in my paternal line of ancestors. In the long run though, the girl came good, very good in fact.

Sorry - can't help it

It's actually 'enceinte'

Sorry - can't help it

It's actually 'enceinte'

Of course it is. That's why I failed my GCE French.

Probably one of the reasons why use of the word is so rare is that it can also mean a wall surrounding a castle, cathedral, or fortified city (= one that is protected by walls).

I'm hearing people on TV and radio say sikth instead of sixth most of the time now, it drives me mad but does it matter?

And people saying fink instead of think, seems to be a habit with footballers.

Wendyf wrote: ↑13 Nov 2022, 18:35 say sikth instead of sixth

I'd say - be pleased that you can detect the difference.

What irritates me is the number of folk who start sentences, (mainly replies to questions) with "so".....

Wendy, I think it does matter because eventually all this eliding of words leads to speech that is less clear and therefore harder to understand. I have been told I need hearing aids because it's my hearing but if that is the case, how come the Shipping Bulletin is crystal clear? As I have said recently, some presenters are guilty and many politicians.

Another trend is to speak extremely fast. It sometimes makes me wonder `What are these people on, cocaine?'
The sound recording quality on Radio 4 has deteriorated badly too.

Tizer wrote: ↑14 Nov 2022, 10:15 Another trend is to speak extremely fast. It sometimes makes me wonder `What are these people on, cocaine?'

Talking fast is thought to be a sign of intelligence. Chris Evans talked so fast he invariably had to repeat it. Now taking twice as long and still a dribble of verbal diarrhea.

I agree about speaking fast. In the case of the Media I think it is driven by time considerations and also the fact that they believe that if they gabble it gives a sense of urgency to the news.
"The sound recording quality on Radio 4 has deteriorated badly too"
As has the quality of outside lines to informants. They regularly drop out and some days it is worse than others.
Interesting hearing some of the old recordings from the BBC a century ago, they are easier to comprehend than some modern broadcasts.....

Can anyone tell me why my spell check won't let me spell waggon with two gs when it informs me that waggoner is a correct spelling?

Writing youre instead of your. This used to annoy me intensely when I was marking essays. I remember once being given a 2000 word essay in text language . I refused to mark it , ( I couldn’t understand it anyway) . I gave the girl 24 hours to hand it back in for marking, in perfect English . She was not happy but did not do it again

Ps , it was actually a very good essay. Is writing in text equivalent to talking too fast