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Vocabulary, Spelling, Grammar


turboplanner

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...and we have "bone" and "debone", which mean the same, "ravel" and unravel" which mean the same, "flammable" and "inflammable" which mean the same. No wonder people who don't have English as their first language get confused.....

 

Also I like these :-

 

through

 

trough

 

thorough

 

thought

 

tough

 

throughout

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

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Yes I see what you mean David. My pet peeve is the use of "on the rise" instead of increasing. To me "on the rise" means on a small hill. Today I saw in a paper something that could be more unique.

 

 

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Just checked my emails and found this... There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is up...

Isn't it funny that I can use my chainsaw to chop a tree down, and then afterwards, I can use the same chainsaw to chop that tree up?

 

 

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One of the most illuminating books I've read is "Breaking the Maya Code by Michael D. Coe (Amazon.com $13.57 new, used from $3.93)

 

From memory it took about a hundred years to crack - much harder than Egyptian hyeroglyphs because it was a logo language.

 

Coe completely breaks down communication structures - a lot more useful than a year or two of Latin.

 

He explains glottalixed and unglottalized, and compares historic languages:

 

Logographic: Egyptian 800 logos, Chinese 5000+

 

"Pure" Syllabic: Persian 40 letters, Cherokee 85

 

Alphabetic or consonantal: English 26, Anglo-Saxon 31, Russian 36, Hebrew 22

 

etc

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Someone in Bendigo finally had a gutful of the neighbours' cats killing the native birds, so he started trapping and killing them.

 

When word got around that cats were missing, he put a notice at the local supermarket that they'd probably been trapped and killed, and any loose cats would be next.

 

When that drew some outrage he put another, bigger warning up.

 

This made the Herald Sun, and drew a big list of comments, most suggesting that cats be kept on the owners properties.

 

One person was concerned at what cats were doing to the Blue rens.

 

One person suggested you shouldn't let your cat wonder off your property. That seemed to spark some supporting comments all about wondering cats.

 

 

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Someone in Bendigo finally had a gutful of the neighbours' cats killing the native birds, so he started trapping and killing them.When word got around that cats were missing, he put a notice at the local supermarket that they'd probably been trapped and killed, and any loose cats would be next.

When that drew some outrage he put another, bigger warning up.

 

This made the Herald Sun, and drew a big list of comments, most suggesting that cats be kept on the owners properties.

 

One person was concerned at what cats were doing to the Blue rens.

 

One person suggested you shouldn't let your cat wonder off your property. That seemed to spark some supporting comments all about wondering cats.

Rens or Wrens?

 

 

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...and if you are American why use one word when many will do , eg "ongoing emergency situation" an emergency to the rest of us...., or "at this point in time" ie now, and the (non)word burglarize , ie burgle. I could go on.....

What about "incentivize"??? Even a "z" in it!!!

 

kaz

 

 

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Mmmm, I have a sense of deja vu. I was involved in a similar discussion a little while ago. I must admit if is one of my hobby horses, just one of many.../

My middle name is PEDANT

 

kaz

 

 

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My middle name is PEDANTkaz

....so do you also get annoyed at the signs at supermarket checkouts saying "9 items or less" instead of "9 items or fewer" ? Pedants rule OK 026_cheers.gif.2a721e51b64009ae39ad1a09d8bf764e.gif

 

 

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Guest davidh10

I have been pleasantly surprised to see elevator warning signs in recent years that say "Do Not Use Lift In Event of Fire". This is an example where in earlier years they all said "Do not use Lift in Case of fire", in which case you shouldn't ever use the lift, particularly on days of high fire danger!

 

 

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What about "incentivize"??? Even a "z" in it!!!

Neil_S said:

 

...and if you are American why use one word when many will do , eg "ongoing emergency situation" an emergency to the rest of us...., or "at this point in time" ie now, and the (non)word burglarize , ie burgle. I could go on.....

 

What about "incentivize"??? Even a "z" in it!!!

 

kaz kaz

In the United States, credit cards have an Expiration Date whilst anywhere else in the English-speaking world it is simply an Expiry Date

 

 

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The French gave us "metric". Now I can't read a friggin tape measure !, even if "metric" means "Measure". Wait till you see metrisized time, even the froggys refused to use it.

 

Cheers to all, spacesailor

 

 

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I have been pleasantly surprised to see elevator warning signs in recent years that say "Do Not Use Lift In Event of Fire". This is an example where in earlier years they all said "Do not use Lift in Case of fire", in which case you shouldn't ever use the lift, particularly on days of high fire danger!

I used to see a sign on a Victorian highway "Lyrebirds Cross" and always wondered what upset them.

 

 

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Near schools in Tasmania... "Slow Children"!

Used to be lots of signs saying: "Bill Posters Will Be Prosecuted"

 

I never heard of a trial being conducted but the signs seem to have gone. Poor Bill must have been innocent!

 

 

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