Grammar that makes you cringe

[hellymedic]

Your all gay what?   

[Ian H]

Your all gay what?   

"Let’s be gay
While we may,
Beauty’s a flower despised in decay. "

[hellymedic]

Youth's the season made for joy
Love is then our duty.

[Ian H]

Youth's the season made for joy
Love is then our duty.

That's so Gay.

[hellymedic]

John Gay?

[Ian H]

John Gay?

I believe that was his name.

[T42]

In a trailer for a film called "London has fallen" (looks like rubbish) the wondrous line "London has been decimated".  Er... devastated?

The OED says:

decimate, v. 1. c. to reduce drastically or severely; to destroy, ruin, devastate. ... now the most usual sense in standard English.

with citations from 1660 onwards.

That's very irritating.

If it has become the most usual sense in standard English it's only from abuse - and probably the nefarious influence of German George.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Then Cruz said that both McCain, born in Panama, and George Romney, Mitt’s father, were born in Mexico.

Do they mean that Cruz was mistaken as to were McCain was born or did he really say "McCain was born in Panama, that's in Mexico"? Or did he actually say that neither of them was born in the USA? Did anyone proofread this before you published it?

[mattc]

In a trailer for a film called "London has fallen" (looks like rubbish) the wondrous line "London has been decimated".  Er... devastated?

The OED says:

decimate, v. 1. c. to reduce drastically or severely; to destroy, ruin, devastate. ... now the most usual sense in standard English.

with citations from 1660 onwards.

That's very irritating.

If it has become the most usual sense in standard English it's only from abuse - and probably the nefarious influence of German George.

Abuse? Meh.

It's just an exaggeration for effect thing. Perfectly normal. There are many (conflict-related) other examples:

"Chelsea were thrashed by <insert any premier league club> yesterday."

(Note that I do consider abuse of "literally" worthy of a proper thrashing. I'd be quite happy to see that usage decimated ... )

[L CC]

More:

Awesome without any awe.
Epic without real heroism.
Fantastic in a down to Earth way.
Marvellous while no one is astonished.
Astonishing things that are quite precitable.

Literally things which are metaphors.


So. (Establishing my place in the conversational flow). Failing to conjugate verbs correctly. I don't care if it's dialect, it's still awful, and I am, literally, cringing.

[T42]

In a trailer for a film called "London has fallen" (looks like rubbish) the wondrous line "London has been decimated".  Er... devastated?

The OED says:

decimate, v. 1. c. to reduce drastically or severely; to destroy, ruin, devastate. ... now the most usual sense in standard English.

with citations from 1660 onwards.

That's very irritating.

If it has become the most usual sense in standard English it's only from abuse - and probably the nefarious influence of German George.

Abuse? Meh.

It's just an exaggeration for effect thing. Perfectly normal. There are many (conflict-related) other examples:

"Chelsea were thrashed by <insert any premier league club> yesterday."

(Note that I do consider abuse of "literally" worthy of a proper thrashing. I'd be quite happy to see that usage decimated ... )

I suppose it's no worse than using "light years" as an expression of time.  Nonetheless it always implies number to me rather than amount: you could decimate an army but not a fortress, etc. Though ok, you might speak in fun of decimating a ham sandwich.

If they were literally thrashing each other you could sell tickets.  Oh wait, they do that already.

@Gareth We have an OED downstairs but ICBA fetching the bugger, it's the butler's day off.

[Jurek]

In an email received from my client last Friday

In all intensive purposes......

.... is not what she meant, and English is her first language 

[Tim Hall]

In an email received from my client last Friday

In all intensive purposes......

.... is not what she meant, and English is her first language 

Reminds me of one of my Scouts, who was learning the Scout Laws: "A Scout is fiendishly inconsiderate".  He could be right.

[Auntie Helen]

BBC News website again:

US President Barack Obama has pledged his support to the Michigan city beset by a water contamination crisis, saying Flint had been "short-changed".

Speaking from nearby Detroit, he said: "If I were a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid's health could be at risk."

The city's water became contaminated when lead leached from old pipes after a change in supplier in 2014.

Since then, residents have complained of bad smells, headaches and rashes.

Unable to drink tap water, the National Guard has joined volunteers in distributing lead tests, filters and bottled water.

It's a shame the National Guard are unable to drink the water.

From here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35368144

[Pickled Onion]

Oil rout in progress:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35362397

No, BBC, the plural of (financial) Index is Indices.

[Nuncio]

Is it?

[Cudzoziemiec]

Yes it is. No it isn't. Yes, actually, it is. Then again, no it isn't. Perhaps. Maybe. I can't make up my mind, I'm suffering from indexision.

(Ok, it doesn't quite work, but... )

[hellymedic]

It's indices if you know your Latin and indexes in common English parlance.
ICnBA to check a dictionary though.

[T42]

My understanding (paltry) is that the ones in books are -exes and mathematical ones are -ices.

[citoyen]

BBC News style guide:
"For index, our favoured plural form (as in stock markets) is indexes. The plural is indices only in a mathematical/scientific context."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide/article/art20130702112133530

[Pickled Onion]

That's interesting - they should tell Simon Jack to read it. 

The standard used by the publishers of the indices, and across the UK financial sector is "indices", and often "indexes" in the US (though Bloomberg's website hedges its bets by using both on the same page!).

[Cudzoziemiec]

Both plurals are acceptable and in common use. The point of a style guide is not so much to ensure correctness but consistency where multiple options are possible. The original article came from the BBC and was in accordance with the BBC style guide.

[citoyen]

That's interesting - they should tell Simon Jack to read it. 

The standard used by the publishers of the indices, and across the UK financial sector is "indices", and often "indexes" in the US (though Bloomberg's website hedges its bets by using both on the same page!).

As some wag once said, the great thing about standards is that there are so many of them.

I agree with Cudzo that this is a matter for house style. On which subject, the BBC says in the intro to its own style guide that failing to adhere is 'not a hanging offence'. They probably have more important things to worry about. The joy of internet forums is that we don't.

[Nuncio]

Does that mean we're allowed to hang offenders?

[Andrij]

Does that mean we're allowed to hang offenders?

Cross-over?