Bad English.

[upsidedown]

Somebody on our local freecycle site offered a chester drawers a few weeks back.

I also noticed this on the go Sky Ride / British Cycling website: Here

The Perfect Hill doesn’t have to be a bone-shaking descent; it might just be a gentle slope that means you can stop peddling for a moment and take in the views.

 

[benb]

The two that annoy me more than anything:

1. Incorrect use of contemporary
   It's not a synonym of modern, it means "of the same time as". A contemporary Shakespeare play would be performed in Elizabethan costume.
   When I see a Victorian terraced house for sale, boasting "contemporary design" I assume that means you have to shoot in a bucket in the garden.
2. Use of begs the question, when the person means raises the question
   Begging the question is a logical fallacy, where the proposition is assumed in the premise. For example, if someone said "BSOs are crap; just look at how worthless they are", they are begging the question. They have not provided any evidence for their proposition, merely assumed it to be true, and stated it twice.

 

[benb]

The Perfect Hill doesn’t have to be a bone-shaking descent; it might just be a gentle slope that means you can stop peddling for a moment and take in the views.

To be fair, selling goods must distract one from the lovely view.

 

[MontyVeda]

The two that annoy me more than anything:

1. Incorrect use of contemporary
   It's not a synonym of modern, it means "of the same time as". A contemporary Shakespeare play would be performed in Elizabethan costume.
   When I see a Victorian terraced house for sale, boasting "contemporary design" I assume that means you have to shoot in a bucket in the garden.
2. Use of begs the question, when the person means raises the question
   Begging the question is a logical fallacy, where the proposition is assumed in the premise. For example, if someone said "BSOs are crap; just look at how worthless they are", they are begging the question. They have not provided any evidence for their proposition, merely assumed it to be true, and stated it twice.

According to my Oxford Thesaurus it is, in the sense of 'contemporary society'.

[sup](now look what you've done... turned me into a pedant)
[/sup]

 

[Speicher]

Alledgedly a notice in the Gent's toilet read

FAO Mr Grimshay, Plumber

Stop Cock Replacement!

 

[benb]

According to my Oxford Thesaurus it is, in the sense of 'contemporary society'.

[sup](now look what you've done... turned me into a pedant)
[/sup]

OK, it's not necessarily a synonym of modern.

 

[marinyork]

According to my Oxford Thesaurus it is, in the sense of 'contemporary society'.

[sup](now look what you've done... turned me into a pedant)
[/sup]

Fowler's, which is often surprisingly overlooked by pedants (funny that) has this to say on the matter

(2) 'existing or done at the present time' (as in contemporary literature) and hence 'up-to-date, modern' (as in contemporary ideas, contemporary furnishings). The logic of this sense, which appears at first sight to be inconsistent with the first, is that it is elliptical for 'contemporary with the present'. The risk of ambiguity is largely theoretical, although it might occur in a sentence such as music performed on contemporary instruments, where it is not clear whether contemporary refers to the time of the music or the time of the performance.

Not sure I'd particularly use it, but there you go.

 

[Globalti]

Not written but I hate the over use of the present perfect tense, especially as practiced by Police officers: (boring officious tone of voice needed here) "Well, the the bloke has driven up the road too fast and his car has gone through the hedge and he's been thrown out and killed...."

 

[Fnaar]

Not written but I hate the over use of the present perfect tense, especially as practiced by Police officers: (boring officious tone of voice needed here) "Well, the the bloke has driven up the road too fast and his car has gone through the hedge and he's been thrown out and killed...."

aka Footballers' Present Perfect... "He's come on, he's played his heart out, he's scored an own goal and sh@gged Pippa Middleton during half time" etc etc.

 

[tyred]

WHY ENGLISH IS SO HARD TO LEARN

We must polish the Polish furniture.

We could lead if he would get the lead out.


The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
This was a good time to present the present.
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
The bandage was wound around the wound.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
Upon seeing the tear in my clothes I shed a tear.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
I read it once and will read it agen
I learned much from this learned treatise.
I was content to note the content of the message.
The Blessed Virgin blessed her. Blessed her richly.
It's a bit wicked to over-trim a short wicked candle.
If he will absent himself we mark him absent.
I incline toward bypassing the incline.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Saw something even better the other day. At the local tip, there's a box for books for charity. On it, a laminated A4 sign said, "Please do not put video,s in this box. Or toy,s"

(It's really hard to type that, I got it right first time and had to 'correct' it)

That's one of my favourites, I see it quite a lot around here.
One of the pubs in town is advertising "Live Music Thur's" at the moment. Not seen that before ...

 

[Headgardener]

What realy pisses me off gets my goat is the lack of linkng words in ads these days such as, buy the product in store rather than buy the product in the or a store.

 

[Headgardener]

That's one of my favourites, I see it quite a lot around here.
One of the pubs in town is advertising "Live Music Thur's" at the moment. Not seen that before ...

Are this Thur's any good?

 

[Arch]

Not written but I hate the over use of the present perfect tense, especially as practiced by Police officers: (boring officious tone of voice needed here) "Well, the the bloke has driven up the road too fast and his car has gone through the hedge and he's been thrown out and killed...."

Yes, I hate that - also used by slightly inarticuate excitable eye-witnesses.

Was it always like that, or has it sprung up recently? And if recently, why? Language changes, I know, maybe that's just evolution.

 

[Adasta]

What realy pisses me off gets my goat is the lack of linkng words in ads these days such as, buy the product in store rather than buy the product in the or a store.

Whatever happened to shops?