Grammar, Spelling and Usage Peeves

[Hermit]

Some acronyms become words, so they are no longer written in allcaps. That's OK with me. Not always okay is adding letters to the word.

I now expect getting flak from our resident antigra members. Bloody snowflakes.

 

[Speakpigeon]

Not grammar, but word usage nonetheless: "subconscious". The correct term is "unconscious", but many seem to think that can't be right, since unconscious usually means asleep. But the psychological concept of impulses that lie below our conscious awareness indeed applies equally to waking and sleeping. It's not like there's the conscious mind, the subconscious mind, and the unconscious mind; the latter two are the same thing. "Subconscious" is a made-up word that probably originated to help viewers understand the idea without confusing them about sleep.

Well, you'll have to tell that to at least some dictionaries...

subconscious
adj.
Not wholly conscious; partially or imperfectly conscious: subconscious perceptions.
n.
The part of the mind below the level of conscious perception. Often used with the.

unconscious
adj.
1. Lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception; not conscious.
2. Temporarily lacking consciousness.
3. Occurring in the absence of conscious awareness or thought: unconscious resentment; unconscious fears.
4. Without conscious control; involuntary or unintended: an unconscious mannerism.
n.
The division of the mind in psychoanalytic theory containing elements of psychic makeup, such as memories or repressed desires, that are not subject to conscious perception or control but that often affect conscious thoughts and behavior.

Here, it says it's OK to talk of the subconscious, presumably at least outside the psychoanalytic theory.

Both come from the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, 2016. Not my reference but there you are.
EB

 

[Tharmas]

I am editing an RFP for my company to answer, and I came across the following request:

“Please attach a concept/mood board depicting what your organization finds to be on trend for our Consultants.”

WTF is that supposed to mean? Am I that far out of touch with my business jargon radar?

 

[bigfield]

I am editing an RFP for my company to answer, and I came across the following request:

“Please attach a concept/mood board depicting what your organization finds to be on trend for our Consultants.”

WTF is that supposed to mean? Am I that far out of touch with my business jargon radar?

I just image-searched "mood board"--you're in for a treat.

Idea: do a collage full of pictures of unlabelled line graphs.

 

[Angry Floof]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

 

[Thomas II]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

Are they from Seattle?

 

[Tharmas]

I am editing an RFP for my company to answer, and I came across the following request:

“Please attach a concept/mood board depicting what your organization finds to be on trend for our Consultants.”

WTF is that supposed to mean? Am I that far out of touch with my business jargon radar?

I just image-searched "mood board"--you're in for a treat.

Idea: do a collage full of pictures of unlabelled line graphs.

Well it might have been fun, but after all the work I did today they just let me know they cancelled the project.

 

[Angry Floof]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

Are they from Seattle?

I thought it was a West Virginia thing.

 

[bilby]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

Are they from Seattle?

I thought it was a West Virginia thing.

I've never come acrosst hat.

 

[Copernicus]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

The first attested usage of this variant of "across" is from the mid 18th century, according to the OED. I suspect that it is a Midland dialect trait, i.e. related to immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. But that is pure speculation. Anyway, there is an interesting discussion of this form by linguist Mark Liberman in the Language Log: Ask Language Log: "acrosst"

 

[Old Woman in Purple]

I recently realized I have a small pronunciation peeve.

The word "across" does NOT have a T on the end!

The first attested usage of this variant of "across" is from the mid 18th century, according to the OED. I suspect that it is a Midland dialect trait, i.e. related to immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. But that is pure speculation. Anyway, there is an interesting discussion of this form by linguist Mark Liberman in the Language Log: Ask Language Log: "acrosst"

Never really thought about it... I don't say 'acrosst', but grew up saying 'amongst' rather than 'among'..... Related?

 

[Malintent]

The reason I am "sensitive" to grammar, even on internet communications.. by which I mean, "it matters, at least somewhat", is that it is one thing to be educated and knowledgeable of the meaning of the words you use, and then choose to take shortcuts, or employ poetic representation, but quite another thing to be oblivious and ignorant of the traditional rules of the language you are using.

It's OK, by me, to be lazy or take grammatical shortcuts... it is not OK, by me, to be ignorant of the usage of the words you choose to use to express yourself. It harms the perceived quality of the information you are attempting to convey.

Who are you more likely to listen to?

Person 1: "Their is raining to day"

Person 2: "It is raining today".

If one is to argue that they are speaking in a forum where the grammar of their sentence structure does not matter at all, then I would argue that the statements that they are attempting to make on the forum are equally thoughtless.

 

[DolphinDynasty]

Versus, people. The word is versus.

And you can't "verse" anybody, either.

Interestingly though, I just learned last year that a 'Verse, a person who is versatile in their sexual positioning/type of partnering, mainly reserved for use by gays, kinda makes sense if you're one who tops and is looking for a bottom, even for straights into pegging. But it took google to explain that one for me.

All of the already cited and supplied pet peeves on language are one and the same to me as to denote people who just don't give a shit about communication as a way of being understood when holding a conversation versus the people who alter it in order to explain this new thing out nowadays.

But in case it hasn't been on here yet as I didn't go through every post: defiantly does not have the same usage definitely.

And to add to Angry Floof's response to the use of the word subconscious with my own paltry two cents: subconscious is different in psychological terms than unconscious, as the subconscious refers to habit memory built so early that it is no longer consciously recalled, such as when learning to walk as a toddler, not consciously remembered but still a part of memory itself as it is a formed habit learned before the brain settled into conscious thought process, yet not derived at a point in time when the brain is unconscious as it is when asleep. So it still holds merit depending on context to use subconscious versus unconscious.

Now, when doctors like to misuse unconscious when they actually mean heart death until such time as CPR worked and person A began to breathe as a result of the heart restarting, that pisses me off. People then assume that when somebody says their friend/lover/family member fell unconscious after the fall they took just means EITHER their heart stopped, OR that it means they'll be fine once they wake up when it could actually be the case the person died for a short period which is in no way the same thing as an unconscious state. And yet doctors persist in misusing the term simply because they don't know how to deal with the fall out and would rather not learn. It bugs me because I've been an advocate for health and mental health care for patients and usually that means the one who has to explain what doctor so in so really meant by unconscious for 7 minutes but is breathing again now and appears through APGAR testing that they may make a full recovery.

Just sayin.

 

[Angry Floof]

The reason I am "sensitive" to grammar, even on internet communications.. by which I mean, "it matters, at least somewhat", is that it is one thing to be educated and knowledgeable of the meaning of the words you use, and then choose to take shortcuts, or employ poetic representation, but quite another thing to be oblivious and ignorant of the traditional rules of the language you are using.

It's OK, by me, to be lazy or take grammatical shortcuts... it is not OK, by me, to be ignorant of the usage of the words you choose to use to express yourself. It harms the perceived quality of the information you are attempting to convey.

Who are you more likely to listen to?

Person 1: "Their is raining to day"

Person 2: "It is raining today".

If one is to argue that they are speaking in a forum where the grammar of their sentence structure does not matter at all, then I would argue that the statements that they are attempting to make on the forum are equally thoughtless.

I agree with why decent writing skill reflects decent thinking skill, and other important purposes such as impressions made to potential employers, etc.

What I disagree with in threads about grammar is the petty judgmental aspect. It's important to avoid junk food, to get physical checkups, and not smoke. But I don't go around wagging my finger at everyone who eats junk food or smokes. It's rarely, if ever, my business to do so. There's just no reason for it other than our pop cultural emphasis on petty moralizing, put downs, and knee-jerk insults.

Unless you are a teacher, potential employer, academic reviewer, or editor, you have no real reason for even pointing out grammar mistakes. (Exception - if they are hilarious. ) Even peeves expressed without pointing to a specific individual are not matters of any importance (that includes mine, of course), and yet most people bitching about others' spelling or grammar load their tone and language with self righteous superiority, as if they have every right to chastise things that are not even remotely their business, which is quite comical to everyone but them.

 

[Wiploc]

(Exception - if they are hilarious. )

I read a friend's book draft, so as to give him feedback. He referred to a woman's "nubile breasts."

I told him that gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Asking for a girl's hand in marriage."

 

[Malintent]

(Exception - if they are hilarious. )

I read a friend's book draft, so as to give him feedback. He referred to a woman's "nubile breasts."

I told him that gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Asking for a girl's hand in marriage."

I don't get it.

 

[Wiploc]

(Exception - if they are hilarious. )

I read a friend's book draft, so as to give him feedback. He referred to a woman's "nubile breasts."

I told him that gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Asking for a girl's hand in marriage."

I don't get it.

"Nubile" means marriageable.

You shouldn't call breasts nubile unless you want to marry just the breasts.

If you could marry just body parts, then you could literally ask for someone's hand in marriage.

 

[bilby]

I don't get it.

"Nubile" means marriageable.

You shouldn't call breasts nubile unless you want to marry just the breasts.

If you could marry just body parts, then you could literally ask for someone's hand in marriage.

Nubile used to mean marriageable.

These days it mostly means 'sexually attractive' with an overtone of 'young'.

I presume you live in the 19th Century. Or the USA.

 

[Wiploc]

Nubile used to mean marriageable.

These days it mostly means 'sexually attractive' with an overtone of 'young'.

I presume you live in the 19th Century. Or the USA.

I understand that if you asked someone on the street what the word means, you might get "sexually devastating" as an answer, or maybe, "old enough to have sex with," or (less frequently) "sexy ingenue." But, as I remember it, when I looked it up in various dictionaries, long ago, "marriageable" was always the first hit.

So the phrase "nubile breasts" seems to me worth a laugh. But, let's use your definition; would you say, "Her boobs are young and sexually attractive"?

Another instance of a word that people can embarrass themselves with (if they knew enough to be embarrassed) is sanguine. I read part (not much) of a book in which two guys were ambushed by swordsmen. They had to hack their attackers apart, getting blood all over themselves in the process.

Then the hero turned to his friend and said, "I'm not sanguine about this."

It wasn't intended to be funny.

 

[Malintent]

Nubile used to mean marriageable.

These days it mostly means 'sexually attractive' with an overtone of 'young'.

I presume you live in the 19th Century. Or the USA.

So the phrase "nubile breasts" seems to me worth a laugh. But, let's use your definition; would you say, "Her boobs are young and sexually attractive"?

Yes. The boobs of a young woman that is "barely legal". That is why I didn't get the "hand" thing.

The word "computer" was a reference to the job performed by assistants to scientists that checked their calculations and did the tedious math involved in their experimentation. If, today, you called somebody a computer, I do not think they would take it as a job offer to assist with experimentation.... I think they would equate the term with "being like a robot". Regardless of the fact that the word was invented prior to the existence of robots... and Computers, for that matter.