Author Topic: Grammar that makes you cringe (Read 856750 times)

red marley · « **Reply #2850 on:** 08 October, 2013, 07:15:27 pm »

Quote from: Dave Gorman, 48 seconds into the very first television episode

And to prove it we've asked you to send in your most genius notions.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/YGZaCuavUfI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/YGZaCuavUfI&rel=1</a>

mattc · « **Reply #2851 on:** 08 October, 2013, 07:23:54 pm »

Quote from: jo on 08 October, 2013, 07:15:27 pm

Quote from: Dave Gorman, 48 seconds into the very first television episode
And to prove it we've asked you to send in your most genius notions.

Oh dear. I'm not sure we can accept late evidence submissions ... but if we could, this would be quite damning.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #2852 on:** 08 October, 2013, 11:52:37 pm »

Jo is right and wins this round of applause!

Pickled Onion · « **Reply #2853 on:** 09 October, 2013, 01:29:06 pm »

How about "otherwise" as a verb?

Quote from: CTC Information Team

If you suspect they’re worse – or better – than average, new CTC research might confirm or otherwise your suspicions.

Pingu · « **Reply #2854 on:** 12 October, 2013, 11:25:38 pm »

Expiry v. expiration

T42 · « **Reply #2855 on:** 17 October, 2013, 11:06:47 am »

Encroaching without the on. "Encroaching the blue paint".

nicknack · « **Reply #2856 on:** 17 October, 2013, 01:29:33 pm »

I know it's been mentioned on a number of occasions but the English speaking world needs reminding regularly.

It's "might have" not "might of"!

Wowbagger · « **Reply #2857 on:** 17 October, 2013, 01:31:59 pm »

Quite right, Nicknack. There were some examples of that particular offence in the Graun comments page the other day. I would imagine they were Daily Mail readers on a trolling expedition.

Arising out of T42's "encroaching - on", also, "protest" requires "against". I have never protested nuclear weapons. I have always protested against them.

T42 · « **Reply #2858 on:** 17 October, 2013, 02:28:28 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 17 October, 2013, 01:31:59 pm

Quite right, Nicknack. There were some examples of that particular offence in the Graun comments page the other day. I would imagine they were Daily Mail readers on a trolling expedition.

Arising out of T42's "encroaching - on", also, "protest" requires "against". I have never protested nuclear weapons. I have always protested against them.

Dead on. After all, one can protest innocence.

L CC · « **Reply #2859 on:** 17 October, 2013, 03:09:50 pm »

"**** has excepted your revised quotation please take this email as an instruction to proceed with the works next Tuesday" does not mean what he thinks it means.

(Just because you have letters after your name, doesn't mean you're not a fuckwit).

drossall · « **Reply #2860 on:** 17 October, 2013, 06:29:49 pm »

Quote from: T42 on 17 October, 2013, 02:28:28 pm

Quote from: Wowbagger on 17 October, 2013, 01:31:59 pm
... I have never protested nuclear weapons. I have always protested against them.

Dead on. After all, one can protest innocence.

+1. A nice example of how laziness loses distinctions in meaning.

Wowbagger · « **Reply #2861 on:** 01 November, 2013, 07:04:18 am »

My sis-in-law used the expression "early doors" yesterday. I think she meant "early".

Is this footballing parlance? I seem to have heard it somewhere before, but I can't quite pin it down.

It's not exactly a point of grammar, but ICBA to start a "bloody stupid footballing sayings" thread in the "Sporting Life" board.

JonBuoy · « **Reply #2862 on:** 01 November, 2013, 07:15:38 am »

The phrase appears to have been adopted by football commentators but not their invention:

Quote

"They try to play a very physical game and get on top of you early doors." That comes from a report on a football match I read recently. Early doors? What's that all about? It means 'at an early stage in the proceedings'.

But why 'doors'? Where did that come from? Nobody knows for certain, but the best guess is that it originally referred to theatres, music halls and similar places opening their doors in advance of the time when the advertised entertainment was due to begin.

Customers who slipped in then had a much better choice of seats than people who left it to the last moment, so from the outset 'early doors' implied gaining an advantage by taking action at the first opportunity.

SteveC · « **Reply #2863 on:** 01 November, 2013, 07:42:57 am »

Quote from: JonBuoy on 01 November, 2013, 07:15:38 am

The phrase appears to have been adopted by football commentators but not their invention:

Quote
"They try to play a very physical game and get on top of you early doors." That comes from a report on a football match I read recently. Early doors? What's that all about? It means 'at an early stage in the proceedings'.

But why 'doors'? Where did that come from? Nobody knows for certain, but the best guess is that it originally referred to theatres, music halls and similar places opening their doors in advance of the time when the advertised entertainment was due to begin.

Customers who slipped in then had a much better choice of seats than people who left it to the last moment, so from the outset 'early doors' implied gaining an advantage by taking action at the first opportunity.

I've always assumed it was a theatrical expression as well. But the whole point is that 'early doors' is before the performance starts. In the quotation from the football commentary the word 'doors' is just a filler. The sentence means exactly the same with out the word 'doors'. Which is possibly the subject for an entirely different rant thread!

clarion · « **Reply #2864 on:** 01 November, 2013, 08:34:42 am »

I thought it referred to pubs, but theatres makes more sense.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #2865 on:** 01 November, 2013, 12:19:09 pm »

I though pubs too, from when they used to have strict opening hours, early doors meaning to go in the pub at 11:00am or 6:00pm as soon as they opened the doors. The theatre thing makes more sense though. I have always liked "snackle rattling" for the act of waiting for the pub to open its doors.

Jaded · « **Reply #2866 on:** 01 November, 2013, 12:33:49 pm »

Quote from: Wowbagger on 01 November, 2013, 07:04:18 am

It's not exactly a point of grammar, but ICBA to start a "bloody stupid footballing sayings" thread in the "Sporting Life" board.

Good, because the internet isn't big enough for that thread!

Paul · « **Reply #2867 on:** 01 November, 2013, 03:38:54 pm »

Quote from: pcolbeck on 01 November, 2013, 12:19:09 pm

I though pubs too, from when they used to have strict opening hours, early doors meaning to go in the pub at 11:00am or 6:00pm as soon as they opened the doors.

Me three.

I used to work in an office in Ilkeston overlooking a pub. A queue would form at about 10:50 most mornings.

mattc · « **Reply #2868 on:** 01 November, 2013, 08:06:26 pm »

Me 4!

Never heard the theatrical derivation before - I call foul.

Whatever the history of "early doors", it's modern usage definitely has a different meaning to just "early". Only a small difference, admittedly ...

And it's not just footballers - it's common in other sports. Rare - but not extinct - in Real Life.

(I rather like these phrases that are commonly used in sport but hardly ever elsewhere.)

pcolbeck · « **Reply #2869 on:** 01 November, 2013, 08:10:25 pm »

Early doors is a reasonably common saying in and around York still. Always with the pub connotation though never heard it used about football.

Bledlow · « **Reply #2870 on:** 01 November, 2013, 09:15:31 pm »

First time I ever heard it was in the 1990s, in rugby. The game, not the town.

Jaded · « **Reply #2871 on:** 02 November, 2013, 05:49:17 am »

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=77392.0;topicseen

nicknack · « **Reply #2872 on:** 02 November, 2013, 08:10:33 am »

Yes, I cringed too.

nicknack · « **Reply #2873 on:** 04 November, 2013, 09:32:34 am »

Quote

A tie between David and I.

Tut.

Gareth Rees · « **Reply #2874 on:** 05 November, 2013, 04:52:15 pm »

The OED says:

Quote from: OED

early doors
A. n. In a theatre, etc.: a period of admission ending some time before the performance begins, during which a wider selection of seating is available, usually for a higher price. Now hist.
B. adv. Early on; near the beginning. Freq. in the context of Association Football.

First quote for sense A is from 1883; for sense B from 1979.

Author Topic: Grammar that makes you cringe (Read 856750 times)

red marley