Author Topic: Word and phrase misuse (Read 22577 times)

Porter · « **Reply #50 on:** March 09, 2012, 02:04:42 PM »

The winkie was a dead giveaway bout the cheeky tonnguiness. Hence my own winkie.

pooka · « **Reply #51 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:10:40 PM »

I was going to say something about the Guns, Germs and Steel guy's usage of decimate. But I couldn't remember his name. Neil Diamond isn't it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #52 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:17:18 PM »

Jared Diamond.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #53 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:20:26 PM »

I don't think anybody uses decimate to mean what it originally meant. Now it basically means destroyed to a large extent.

pooka · « **Reply #54 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:24:50 PM »

It was used in the latinate sense on Doctor Who, in Sound of Drums, which was kind of a pretty good episode, if it hadn't been so inextricable from Last of thr Time Lords.

Jonathon · « **Reply #55 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:26:42 PM »

Quote from: BlackBlade on March 12, 2012, 12:20:26 PM

I don't think anybody uses decimate to mean what it originally meant. Now it basically means destroyed to a large extent.

Word.

I once read a great quote about how sticking to the original meaning would simply ensure that almost nobody ever used it.

Jonathon · « **Reply #56 on:** March 12, 2012, 12:27:13 PM »

Found it.

pooka · « **Reply #57 on:** March 12, 2012, 01:02:25 PM »

You'll note I didn't call it the proper usage, just the latinate usage. But I think the misappropriation of decimate came from the idiotic rules of not using the same word repeatedly and avoiding adverbs. It's not like we don't have enough words that mean destroy. I look on the use of decimate as equivalent to the use of temblor.

I'd argue that the centuries old wider use is different from how it is used today, which is not only to destroy, but to destroy with recklessness or cruelty. The reckless and cruel sense comes from the Roman Legion meaning.

From the Globe column:

Quote

That doesn't mean anything goes, decimation-wise. Since the word implies partial destruction, most usage mavens don't like it as a synonym for "wipe out"; decimation is not devastation. Many, including Fowler, think it sounds odd when applied to single entities: A career or a car might be damaged, but not decimated

Marianne Dashwood · « **Reply #58 on:** March 12, 2012, 01:49:55 PM »

I'm pretty sure the world now needs some Neil Diamond/Jared Diamond mashups.

"Sweet New Guinean Caroline"
"America (North/South Axis)"
"Girl, You'll Be A Woman in a Collapsed Society Soon"

Porter · « **Reply #59 on:** March 12, 2012, 03:18:41 PM »

"Her heart rate and respiration are off the charts!"

Really? You need some better charts then.

rivka · « **Reply #60 on:** March 12, 2012, 03:39:45 PM »

BlackBlade · « **Reply #61 on:** March 12, 2012, 04:09:27 PM »

Ela · « **Reply #62 on:** September 30, 2012, 11:00:01 AM »

Okay I just read, an article on "insights in our philosophy."

It's "insights into", folks! At least, for the way it was intended in this particular phrase.

Jonathon · « **Reply #63 on:** September 30, 2012, 11:06:24 AM »

That's just weird. Apparently some people use "insight(s) in", but it's overwhelmingly "into".

Ela · « **Reply #64 on:** September 30, 2012, 12:33:42 PM »

Yeah, that's what I found when I looked around. There were a few isolated cases where "insights in" seemed to make sense, but in most cases it sounds awkward.

pooka · « **Reply #65 on:** August 09, 2013, 01:33:28 PM »

A new leash on life

I should have been taking these down, I'm sure I've seen several watching Biggest loser. Most were just bad negatives.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #66 on:** August 09, 2013, 10:26:06 PM »

*cringe*

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #67 on:** August 28, 2013, 09:15:37 AM »

My son shared this with me:

So wait . . . it's "You've got another think coming", not "You've got another thing coming"? Apparently, I've been saying it wrong all my life. "Another think"? How does that even make sense?

BlackBlade · « **Reply #68 on:** August 28, 2013, 09:50:20 AM »

I've been saying "You've got another thing coming" my entire life as well. I'm scared now.

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #69 on:** August 28, 2013, 09:55:12 AM »

The fighters at Google are with us.

Brinestone · « **Reply #70 on:** August 28, 2013, 10:38:44 AM »

"You've got another think coming!" means you've been thinking incorrectly and you're going to realize it soon. Like, "If you think I'd let you walk all over me like that, you've got another think coming, mister!"

One they didn't list was "I'm a little weary of . . . "

Jonathon · « **Reply #71 on:** August 28, 2013, 10:47:18 AM »

I think "another thing coming" is so common now that it has displaced the original. Some of the others on that list might be headed that way.

But in Utah, it's still "your guys's". "What's your opinion, guys?" sounds kind of dumb.

rivka · « **Reply #72 on:** August 28, 2013, 10:56:15 AM »

Quote from: Jonathon on August 28, 2013, 10:47:18 AM

I think "another thing coming" is so common now that it has displaced the original.

uuuuurrrrrgggggggggggggggggggg!

*goes off to a quiet corner*

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #73 on:** August 28, 2013, 02:00:55 PM »

Wait! It's not "hone in?"

Jonathon · « **Reply #74 on:** August 28, 2013, 02:16:49 PM »

Nope! Hone means 'sharpen'. Home in this sense means to seek or go after an objective, which is an extension of the original sense of returning home.