Grammar that makes you cringe

[T42]

'caveat emptor'

I presume that's where the current use of caveat as a noun stems from. This is a common side effect of popular set phrases where some or all of the constituent parts are uncommon and/or foreign words. Something gets lost in translation.

Not so sure. I did an ngram of caveat and caveat emptor, and caveat on its own appears to be much more frequent. Of course the caveat dataset will contain the caveat emptor data as well, but the simple caveat graph isn't in step with it.

[citoyen]

'caveat emptor'

I presume that's where the current use of caveat as a noun stems from. This is a common side effect of popular set phrases where some or all of the constituent parts are uncommon and/or foreign words. Something gets lost in translation.

Not so sure. I did an ngram of caveat and caveat emptor, and caveat on its own appears to be much more frequent. Of course the caveat dataset will contain the caveat emptor data as well, but the simple caveat graph isn't in step with it.

That ngram suggests caveat became really popular as a standalone word in the 1960s, and has continued to grow in popularity since then. I imagine that's when it became detached from its original source and meaning to take on a life of its own.

As to what that original source was, I can't claim to know, but I still feel it's most likely to have been abstracted from a set phrase, such as caveat emptor. Or it could be a bit of legal jargon that has made the transition into mainstream language. Legalese is often the original source for this kind of thing.

Anyway, it's clear that something happened in the 1960s to help it gain a foothold in everyday use. I bet it's all that swinging that went on then. Bloody hippies. No respect for standards.

[rafletcher]

Today on the BBC “Don Everly… the last surviving member of the rock ‘n roll duo…”.

[Cudzoziemiec]

From a podcast: "Ultimately, my initial reaction was... "

[T42]

We could almost split off a usage/malapropism thread.  In a YT history documentary I watched the other day the narrator kept saying "exasperate" instead of "exacerbate", as in "this only exasperated the situation".  Oh joy.

[Pingu]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-58585603

Two people were in the lorry's cab, and one was able to get out themselves...

Also, it was a self-driving vehicle again 

[Cudzoziemiec]

With a self-extricating passenger (who obviously can't have been driving).

[Cudzoziemiec]

Four amateur astronauts blasted off from Florida on a private SpaceX mission, paid for by billionaire Jared Issacman. But to which of the following were they aiming to reach a similar altitude?

Ugh!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58555204

[Tim Hall]

The other day I was typoing something into WhatsApp on my phone. The sentence included the works "thinks", to which the phone (unhelpfully) suggested "think's" as an alternative.

Two things struck me:

1.   I didn't mean "think's" thanks very much.

2.  What valid use is there for the word "think's" anyway?

[rogerzilla]

When did "change" mutate into "change up"?  It was cute when my daughter, then 3, said it.  It sounds moronic when adults say it.

[PhilO]

Probably about the same time that 'swap out' became a thing... 

[Cudzoziemiec]

What do people think of the word 'precautious'? OED records it from 1713 but it seems to be undergoing an increase in use currently.

[citoyen]

What do people think of the word 'precautious'? OED records it from 1713 but it seems to be undergoing an increase in use currently.

Probably acceptable on the basis that it implies anticipating specific problems, ie acting with foresight, hence is sufficiently nuanced to justify existence as a separate word to cautious, which indicates more general wariness.

Whether or not people actually use it that way is another matter.

If I encountered it in copy I was working on, I would very likely change it to cautious.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The context in which I encountered it today was Covid in Auckland. There is one case so the city is being shut down. Could be precautious or cautious, depending on your Corona-risk tolerance...

[Kim]

Probably about the same time that 'swap out' became a thing... 

Hmm, I reckon that's legitimate jargon when virtual memory is involved, a playful metaphor when used to refer to replacing computing hardware (especially temporarily for diagnostic purposes), and an abhorrent Americanism in most other contexts...

Interestingly, its counterpart 'swap in' doesn't seem to have escaped far beyond computing and perhaps ballsports.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Or build out, which seems like it should mean extend – and perhaps it originally did – but now is used to mean simply 'build from the ground up' but in a non-physical building sense.

[Cudzoziemiec]

"We can start and stop either at the top of the hour or the bottom of the hour." To me that suggests something like 12:01 or 12:59, give or take. But in this context (programming firewall rules) it apparently means 12:00 or 12:30 respectively. The logic is clear but it's the first time I've heard "the bottom of the hour" in this meaning. Usanian, which usually makes a difference when talking about time and dates, but probably not in the computer context. I might start trying the phrase out on people.

[Kim]

"We can start and stop either at the top of the hour or the bottom of the hour." To me that suggests something like 12:01 or 12:59, give or take. But in this context (programming firewall rules) it apparently means 12:00 or 12:30 respectively. The logic is clear but it's the first time I've heard "the bottom of the hour" in this meaning. Usanian, which usually makes a difference when talking about time and dates, but probably not in the computer context. I might start trying the phrase out on people.

I don't think it's a computer-ism.  The Hunt For Red October is that way  -->

Jack Ryan : Has he made any Crazy Ivans?
Capt. Bart Mancuso : What difference does that make?
Jack Ryan : Because his next one is going to be to starboard.
Capt. Bart Mancuso : Why? Because his last was to port?
Jack Ryan : No. Because he always goes to starboard in the bottom half of the hour.
[Mancuso looks at a clock, and sees it's near the half-hour mark]

[Cudzoziemiec]

I meant the other way round. Being a Usanianism, it would have or is likely to have become a computerism. But a Usanianism first.

I wonder if it possibly originates in eg German, where Uhr means both hour and clock?

[Moleman76]

Or build out

In Usanian retail development-speak, to "build out" means to construct tenant improvements within a "shell building" or vacant space.

[Moleman76]

Back in the days of vacuum tube radios over here in Leftpondia, it was common to hear that a few minutes of news coverage was about  to be broadcast at the top or bottom of the hour.  Typically, headlines at the bottom of the hour, with more coverage at the top of the hour.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Or build out

In Usanian retail development-speak, to "build out" means to construct tenant improvements within a "shell building" or vacant space.

If it's within a shell building, that's back to front – you're actually building in from the outside! But at the same time it makes perfect sense.

[Mr Larrington]

Back in the days of vacuum tube radios over here in Leftpondia, it was common to hear that a few minutes of news coverage was about  to be broadcast at the top or bottom of the hour.  Typically, headlines at the bottom of the hour, with more coverage at the top of the hour.

While the Weather Channel used to give local forecasts “on the eights”, this being of some importance to folks at Battle Mountain on account of streamlined bicycles not liking rain and/or wind and sleep-deprived volunteers not liking near-zero temperatures out in the boonies at sunrise.

[Cudzoziemiec]

PUB LANDLORD PENS SIGNS TO PERSUADE PUNTERS TO PURCHASE PINTS
https://www.bristol247.com/food-and-drink/news-food-and-drink/pub-landlord-pens-signs-to-persuade-punters-to-purchase-pints/

9/10, had to dock a point for missing the opportunity to use "publican" in place of "pub landlord". 

I've never been to the Bag Of Nails, but I knew as soon as I saw the headline that was the pub referred to. Other signs on the door or in the window include "No stag parties" and "No stupid fancy dress".

[Cudzoziemiec]

Okay, this one does make me cringe. And vomit. Even though it's grammatically flawless.
"Sexually challenged people" as a euphemism (or rather a dysphemism – I'd like to say "cacophemism") for gay, bi, otherwise non-heterosexual people.