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01-21-2020, 07:26 AM - 1 Like   #76
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QuoteOriginally posted by dlh Quote
Today's pet linguistic peeve: "roofs", "scarfs", and such, where the last consonant is unvoiced and where the speaker/writer fails to convert to the equivalent voiced consonant in order to make the word plural. E.g., "leaf", and "leaves". I don't imagine that they're attempting to use the possessive form (i.e., unvoiced "s") rather than the plural (i.e., voiced "s"); they never use apostrophes, so the sentence ends up being incoherent.

A radio station I listen to frequently (in order to receive the wisdom of Rush Limbaugh) plays an advertisement in which a guy with a foreign (i.e., Lawn-guy-land) accent tells me that they can install new "roofs" better in winter than in summer. It always takes me a minute to figure out what he's trying to say. The local weather-girl today advised the TV viewers to wear "scarfs". Drives me nuts. (Isn't "scarfs" a verb, e.g., "He scarfs down cheesecake like it's going out of style.")
They must be a bunch of "oaves!"

01-26-2020, 09:15 AM - 1 Like   #77
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QuoteOriginally posted by photoptimist Quote
They must be a bunch of "oaves!"
They really ought to learn to use their loaves
01-26-2020, 09:55 AM - 1 Like   #78
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QuoteOriginally posted by timb64 Quote
They really ought to learn to use their loaves
Baked in the oven of a stoaf?
01-26-2020, 03:02 PM - 1 Like   #79
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QuoteOriginally posted by swanlefitte Quote
Found this on words that mean their opposite.
25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites
Nice piece Chris.

To illustrate one of those verbs, a classic exchange from "Yes, Prime Minister":
Man: Such an awful country, they cut people's hands off and women get stoned when they commit adultery.
Sir Humphrey: Unlike Britain, where they commit adultery when they get stoned.

02-08-2020, 04:58 PM - 1 Like   #80
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I get so tired of see the recent lazy, and all too common, use of "impact" in place of "affect". First off, impact is a noun that shouldn't be made a verb, second, when used as a verb, it imparts no information as to whether the effect was positive or negative. In either case their are many verbs that could be used to indicate the benefit, influence, support, or hindrance.
02-09-2020, 10:51 PM   #81
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QuoteOriginally posted by robgski Quote
I get so tired of see the recent lazy, and all too common, use of "impact" in place of "affect". First off, impact is a noun that shouldn't be made a verb, second, when used as a verb, it imparts no information as to whether the effect was positive or negative. In either case their are many verbs that could be used to indicate the benefit, influence, support, or hindrance.
Perhaps, but “The asteroid impacted Mars” is a proper usage, I’d say.
02-10-2020, 02:16 AM - 3 Likes   #82
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Yes, that sentence shows the best usage of impact as a verb, something literally hit something else.

Otherwise , the lazy usage is smething had an effect on something else, but the use of "impact" doesn't convey what that effect was, though it implies a negative effect. This is where the misuse of the word really gets me, Often the effect is positive, but instead of using a word like bolster, enhance, advance, support, the word impact is used a lazy verb with a now nebulous meaning.

There was a time when one could improve one's vocabulary and grammar by reading newspapers and periodicals, now it appears that most of those use dumbed-down language.

02-10-2020, 03:45 AM - 2 Likes   #83
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QuoteOriginally posted by robgski Quote
I get so tired of see the recent lazy, and all too common, use of "impact" in place of "affect". First off, impact is a noun that shouldn't be made a verb, second, when used as a verb, it imparts no information as to whether the effect was positive or negative. In either case their are many verbs that could be used to indicate the benefit, influence, support, or hindrance.
I think impacted is overused, but the word affect doesn't tell you negative or positive either. In reading on it, it seems as though the issue is the "figurative" use of the word impacted. Prior to the 20th century, the word was used as a verb, but more in a literal (often bodily) sense.

Regardless, I believe quite strongly that your post has "strongly impacted" this thread in the discussion of this word, although far be it from me to say whether said impact is positive or negative.
02-10-2020, 07:29 AM - 1 Like   #84
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QuoteOriginally posted by robgski Quote
Yes, that sentence shows the best usage of impact as a verb, something literally hit something else.

Otherwise , the lazy usage is smething had an effect on something else, but the use of "impact" doesn't convey what that effect was, though it implies a negative effect. This is where the misuse of the word really gets me, Often the effect is positive, but instead of using a word like bolster, enhance, advance, support, the word impact is used a lazy verb with a now nebulous meaning.

There was a time when one could improve one's vocabulary and grammar by reading newspapers and periodicals, now it appears that most of those use dumbed-down language.
The internet now rocks words like impact to bait clickers to stream that one weird trick insurance companies don't want you to know.

My pet peeves:
- "strategic" being used as a synonym for "important"
- "tactical" being used as a adjective for police or army gear
- "exponential" being used as a adjective for anything that is fast growing/increasing

But the biggest trend in sloppy writing is the false use of time-relationship words such as "while," "since," and "as" to describe causal relationships (e.g., "I don't want a black car since black absorbs too much heat.")
02-10-2020, 07:44 AM   #85
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rondec Quote
I think impacted is overused, but the word affect doesn't tell you negative or positive either. In reading on it, it seems as though the issue is the "figurative" use of the word impacted. Prior to the 20th century, the word was used as a verb, but more in a literal (often bodily) sense.

Regardless, I believe quite strongly that your post has "strongly impacted" this thread in the discussion of this word, although far be it from me to say whether said impact is positive or negative.
I maintain that "impact" is (1) not a verb, and (2) is not a synonym for "affect". When people misuse words so badly, they lose their value as a means of communication. Half the time, I have no idea what the news-faces are talking about because their choices of words is so, well, garbled.

I don't know whether I've mentioned this one before, but another of my pet peeves has to do with the purported elimination of the subjunctive mood and passive voice. What I've discovered is that the passive voice hasn't gone away, but the failure to educate people in its proper use has resulted in constructions such as "It absorbs quickly.", a sort of implicit-reflexive subjunctive substitute for "It is quickly absorbed.". Stupid.

Last edited by Unregistered User; 02-11-2020 at 01:43 AM.
02-10-2020, 07:52 AM - 1 Like   #86
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Interesting thread.

If I had read all of these posts before writing my letter, I would of improved my grammar.
02-10-2020, 08:17 AM - 1 Like   #87
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QuoteOriginally posted by dlh Quote
another of my pet peeves has to do with the purported elimination of the subjunctive mood.
Indeed.

However, it has not totally disappeared; perhaps the most famous use of the subjunctive mood is May the force be with you!
02-10-2020, 02:09 PM   #88
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Correct spelling and syntax are a great help to those of us not eloquent in the English language. Neither dictionaries nor online translator services are terribly good with "unorthodox" language.

QuoteOriginally posted by robgski Quote
literally
Very refreshing to see someone using that word correctly. Too many people say literally when they mean quite the opposite. "That literally scared me to death."
02-10-2020, 02:12 PM - 5 Likes   #89
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QuoteOriginally posted by robgski Quote
literally
QuoteOriginally posted by savoche Quote
Very refreshing to see someone using that word correctly. Too many people say literally when they mean quite the opposite. "That literally scared me to death."
The problem with kleptomaniacs is that they always take things literally.

Last edited by bertwert; 02-10-2020 at 02:22 PM.
02-10-2020, 03:29 PM   #90
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QuoteOriginally posted by savoche Quote
... those of us not eloquent in the English language ...
Wha'?? You are far more eloquent than most native English speakers, Savoche. But I take your point. Slang, irregular syntax, abbreviations, misspellings, etc make it hard for the uninitiated - which is one reason people do it.
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