Grammar that makes you cringe

[T42]

When he says geil means sexy, he means randy.

[Torslanda]

Yebbut what do you call a mural on the ceiling?

The Cistine Chapel...?

Meanwhile, in other news, The Beeb newsreader said the police were 'treating the fire as supected arson'. FFS!

[Auntie Helen]

Weirdly I rarely hear Germans saying "super". Occasionally "supi!" which is a slang version. Maybe the "super" time has now passed them by and the rest of Europe is catching up.

[pcolbeck]

Weirdly I rarely hear Germans saying "super". Occasionally "supi!" which is a slang version. Maybe the "super" time has now passed them by and the rest of Europe is catching up.

Hear "super!" loads in Vienna and Munich a few weeks ago. Maybe its now a southern German / Austrian thing?

[Cudzoziemiec]

You hear it a lot in Polish, even though/because it ignores normal grammatical rules (ie it doesn't agree with nouns). But did it really become trendy in English from German?

[gonzo]

I got an error message on an internal system today which read;

The data's are not valid.

[T42]

You hear it a lot in Polish, even though/because it ignores normal grammatical rules (ie it doesn't agree with nouns). But did it really become trendy in English from German?

Not in a position to say. I first heard it in German 30 years ago from the mouth of a Herr Doktor N. as he had his first suck of margarita in Colorado: Oh, das ist soooper!

It's funny. You expect your own language to evolve with time, but when you've gone to the trouble of learning a different one you rather expect the foreigns not to go changing things behind your back.

Incidentally, in the 70s I learnt that it was very ill-bred to say "hallo"; now it seems to be the standard casual greeting, at least in the Rheinpfalz.

[hellymedic]

I got an error message on an internal system today which read;

The data's are not valid.

That is multiply cringeworthy!

[hellymedic]

Auntie, surely a mural is, by definition on a wall and does not need to be described as a 'wall mural'?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-45054525/a-look-at-the-uk-s-largest-wall-mural

Ooh, that one really does make me cringe. Although the internet reckons a mural can also be on a ceiling or 'any other permanent surface'.

The internet is an idiot.

My understanding is that artwork on architecture is a fresco and if specifically on a wall can be termed a mural.

[Ham]

IIRC fresco is more to do with the technique of applying on fresh plaster, but it wouldn't be the first time I go t things wrong today if it isn't.

[Nuncio]

...Is a 'super' tsunami, linguistically speaking, on its way?

For sure.

Thanks. I was hoping someone would.

[Auntie Helen]

Incidentally, in the 70s I learnt that it was very ill-bred to say "hallo"; now it seems to be the standard casual greeting, at least in the Rheinpfalz.

hallo is what you say to people you pass walking on the street, to colleagues etc, here in NRW. It’s the most common greeting.

[Pickled Onion]

I didn't think 'super nice' etc was anything to do with cycling or cyclists, but a general and recent Americanism. Whatever its origins, it fits in with the British (and elsewhere?) trend over the last ten years (or more?) to use superlatives and intense adjectives in all situations. Nothing is 'nice' or 'good' it's 'amazing' or 'incredible'.

Soon we'll be using hyperlatives.

[Cudzoziemiec]

We should have a statement from the Bank of Words on the increasing verbal inflation rate.

It's occurred to me that actually the Polish – and from the sound of it, German – use of "super" is different from what people were talking about in English, in that in those languages it is a standalone adjective and is not usually used in compounds.

[Ham]

Mr Stephen Calk, thank you for a true facepalm moment. I wonder, what IS the view like from behind bars?



Given the subject matter, I think we can take it as read it was self penned.

from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/14/politics/paul-manafort-trial-robert-mueller-day-11/index.html

[gonzo]

I got an error message on an internal system today which read;

The data's are not valid.

That is multiply cringeworthy!

I know - I was almost impressed at how bad it was!

[jsabine]

Meanwhile, in other news, The Beeb newsreader said the police were 'treating the fire as supected arson'. FFS!

Don't see the problem with that, TBH. It was a fire; they suspect it may have been started deliberately. Once they've got evidence for that - accelerants or WHY - then it moves from suspected arson to arson.

[Pedaldog.]

Ooh, that one really does make me cringe. Although the internet reckons a mural can also be on a ceiling or 'any other permanent surface'.

The internet is an idiot.

By "Any Other Surface" they mean "Anywhere that some Self Important Vandal can get to with a Marking Device" I suppose?



My understanding is that artwork on architecture is a Liberty and if specifically on a wall can be termed an Unwanted....    Sorry, I hate Graffittittiti as much as Cars parking on a FOOTPATH.

[Moleman76]

returning to "super" - isn't it just the modern version of 'double plus good' ?

[T42]

I got an error message on an internal system today which read;

The data's are not valid.

That is multiply cringeworthy!

I know - I was almost impressed at how bad it was!

It's all you can expect when you farm translation work out to the lowest bidder, or leave it to the tea-boy who speak good the English, isn't it? When Mrs T was translating professionally she often got documents in "just to check - we already translated it ourselves" where she had to ask for the original in order to understand the "English".

[mattc]

Incidentally, in the 70s I learnt that it was very ill-bred to say "hallo"; now it seems to be the standard casual greeting, at least in the Rheinpfalz.

hallo is what you say to people you pass walking on the street, to colleagues etc, here in NRW. It’s the most common greeting.

We heard a lot of "hallo"s on HBK last week, so I started using it myself 

They also use "ciao" rather a lot - which was kinda cute, as it's so not a Germanic-sounding word

(And I had one "cheers" from a serving frau who knew I was English.)

[Auntie Helen]

I rarely if ever hear ciao! What I hear for the goodbye greeting is Tschüss or Tschöööö

[Nuncio]

Incidentally, in the 70s I learnt that it was very ill-bred to say "hallo"; now it seems to be the standard casual greeting, at least in the Rheinpfalz.

hallo is what you say to people you pass walking on the street, to colleagues etc, here in NRW. It’s the most common greeting.

Whereas here in the UK in my lifetime the standard casual greeting has shifted from (close variations) of "hallo" to "hi".

[hellymedic]

[Accuracy whinge]
This morning's mail brought me an envelope franked 'Queens square'
Should be 'Queen Square'.
David was Not Impressed.

[mattc]

This is a new one on me:

"

I have bullhorns on my fixie, which's brake levers are on the tops, reachable in most positions.

"

Is that allowed in the Queen's English??