The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[overgeeked]

View attachment 362748

Sometimes, yes. History is replete with examples. Scientists working in repressive societies is one wide category of examples.

 

[MarkB]

It breaks English spelling and pronunciation conventions. Should we now pronounce it em-ale. We don't say ee-masculate. It is also inconsistent. Why not write "xray" then?

There are very few English spelling and pronunciation conventions that are more than vague and occasionally-followed guidelines.

Emu
Emulate
Female
Feminine
Feline
Felicity
Meta
Meter

 

[Ryujin]

(Not gaming...)

I would have happily bought things at your specialty retail store, and I get that you might like to work 8-5 like I do... but holy !%!@ $20 shipping fee for in town!?!? Big box store order it is.

There was a specialty retail store that I supported, quite religiously, on the basis that people who work in a specialty shop know more about that sort of product than a casual user does. Then, one day, I went in looking for a specific item. I was told by not one, but two of these 'experts' that what I wanted didn't exist. The manufacturer's catalogue was sitting on the counter right in front of them, but they didn't bother to crack it open. I went home, found the manufacturer's web site, and ordered the product that "didn't exist" directly.

Not long after the owner, who I had known for several decades, posted a rant about how if you don't support local businesses and buy online, soon local businesses will disappear. By then I had already told him of my experience in his store.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I used to write "e-mail" religiously, but I've come around on "email." For whatever reason, the hyphen started looking fussy to me. That said, I'm deeply committed to two spaces after a full stop. One spaces looks odd to me. I am large. I contain multitudes.

I gave up and succumbed to that one ages ago, and the drift has dictionaries agreeing these days. Saves typing an extra character every time, which made it nearly inevitable in an era of increasing text communications.

EDIT: regarding two space, with proportionally-spaced fonts, you really are not adding two spaces. I figured for most people it was because for people who started typing with typewriters, it just became a habit, or muscle memory. I know I had to unlearn typing two spaces after punctuation because I learned to type in school on a typewriter and that is what we were instructed to do. At the same time, there really is no harm--other than upsetting an editor if you are submitting work for publishing.

Yeah, that habit is a giveaway that you probably had a class in "typing" rather than "keyboarding" at some point. Hard to break, but as you said fairly harmless.

The one that always gets me is “peaked my curiosity.”

Nah, man. Just nah.

It's marginally better than "peeked" and I've seen that one too. Maybe we should blame it on that brief post-9/11 "freedom fry" period where hating French things was in vogue because a few twits were having a fit of pique.

Er, make that "...was a trend because a few twits were in a snit" instead. 'Murica!

"he made a gaff" (Really? Is he in the SCA?)

Also conceivably a fisherman engaging in a spot of DIY work.

You don't run into it much any more but one of my favorites is tenderhooks instead of tenterhooks. It's not even a word, although I'm honestly a little surprised there isn't some sex toy that's cribbed it for a brand name.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Not long after the owner, who I had known for several decades, posted a rant about how if you don't support local businesses and buy online, soon local businesses will disappear.

Sadly, sometimes the best response to that argument is "Good, get out of the way so someone better can open serving the same niche."

 

[payn]

dnd

 

[Cadence]

Yeah, "bated breath" is the correct spelling. The key verb here is "abate" rather than "bait"

Now I'm trying not to imagine how awful "baited breath" would smell. If I ever write fiction I will have to work that in.

The one that makes my eye twitch is when people say "I could care less!" when they are trying to express how little they care about something.

The correct phrase is "I couldn't care less."

I usually let that one slide. "I care so little that you aren't even worth the effort to pronounce the 'n't'."

typing two spaces after a period on computer using a variable-width font

I feel personally targeted by that one!

(I wonder if that is the thing I learned in middle/high school that has stuck with me most).

 

[Cadence]

Elsewhere.

I mean, that's your prerogative, but way to show you were pulling stuff out of your tuchus to try and shut others down.

 

[overgeeked]

There are very few English spelling and pronunciation conventions that are more than vague and occasionally-followed guidelines.

Emu
Emulate
Female
Feminine
Feline
Felicity
Meta
Meter

Yep. English has stolen so much from so many languages without changing spelling for so long that you can find examples of just about any sound spelled just about any way.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Some of y'all never read the Terms and Rules of this site and it shows.

I suspect on most fora you could replace "some" with "most" and be more accurate.