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2017-06-14, 12:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Last edited by Peelee; 2017-06-14 at 12:36 AM.
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-14, 07:18 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2009
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Ah, now I have one!
How part of English-speaking historiography seems to call everything an Empire.
Like, British Empire? Sure, that's OK. They called it that. They actually called England that even before England had a colonial empire. Spanish Empire? Spain didn't actually have an emperor after the XIV century, but it's normal to talk about colonial empires, so why not? Not really accurate, but acceptable.
Angevin Empire? ...nope. Those were simply Angevin land holdings. No emperor anywhere, and no special relationship compared to normal Medieval standards.
There's a lot of these: Swedish Empire, Norwegian Empire, North Sea Empire: these could simply say "Kingdom(s)" or "Holds" or "Possessions". Then there are the Athenian Empires (actual name: I and II Delian Leagues).
These really are completely unimportant misuses, given that "Empire" must have between 3 and 300 different meanings, so they may not be misuses at all.Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2017-06-14, 08:21 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
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2017-06-14, 09:09 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2007
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
this may have been said already.. I haven't read the full thread:
people who say they are 1000% committed, or 120% sure..
that's not how percentages work.
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2017-06-14, 09:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Last edited by Grey_Wolf_c; 2017-06-14 at 09:15 AM.
Interested in MitD? Join us in MitD's thread.There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
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And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2017-06-14, 09:22 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2012
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- In the Playground, duh.
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2017-06-14, 09:47 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Interested in MitD? Join us in MitD's thread.There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2017-06-14, 09:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-14, 10:07 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Interested in MitD? Join us in MitD's thread.There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2017-06-14, 10:34 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2015
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- San Francisco Bay area
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
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2017-06-14, 10:58 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2006
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- Germany
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
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2017-06-14, 11:07 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2015
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- San Francisco Bay area
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2017-06-14, 12:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2017
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- NC, USA
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Muad'drin tia dar allende caba'drin rhiadem! Los Valdar Cuebiyari! Los! Carai an Caldazar! Al Caldazar!
Amazing avatar by Linklele
Extended Sig
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2017-06-14, 01:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- Birmingham, AL
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Oh, then this'll make you just explode with joy - he didn't do the voteys when he started the comic, so there was a good stretch of time without them. But a couple years ago or so he went back and gave a votey to every comic that didn't have one. So you have literally the entire collection to go through.
He has not, to the best of my knowledge, done any mouse-over text to the old strips, so there's that.
On a phone, just tap the comic itself, it'll give you the mouseover (which is a feature wish XKCD would implement as well). If it's an older comic without mouseover text, tapping the comic will just go to the next comic.Last edited by Peelee; 2017-06-14 at 01:59 PM.
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-14, 02:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2004
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- Norwich, UK
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Hoo boy, do I have some bad news for you! I just checked the oldest strips and those now have mouse-over text as well. Enjoy your re-reads, everyone!
I remember when the votey actually had a purpose: SMBC (and OOTS for that matter) used to be on webcomic ranking sites, so clicking the button used to redirect you to the voting site as well as revealing the bonus comic. Hence the name. It's hilarious that Zach has not only kept making them as this bizarre little appendix to the comic, but has actually added them retroactively to the older strips as well.Allergy advice: posts may contain traces of sarcasm
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2017-06-14, 02:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- Birmingham, AL
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-14, 02:28 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
I believe I noted in the very post that you quote that I learned they are (slightly) different things, and that therefore it was not the best possible example of the phenomenon to which I was referring, merely the one that first came to mind.
If you would prefer a better example, how about when people use the phrase "a certain je ne sais quoi" to describe a positive quality that they don't have the right words for? It literally just means "I don't know what," but in French, so why not just say that?
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2017-06-14, 02:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Because it sounds better in French? Or are you saying that Englih should limit itself to, what, anglo-saxon words only? To take a random word you used: example is pretty much pure Latin (exempli), and I'm sure the concept can be expressed in anglo-saxon terms if you really dig into the language, but why bother? English's strength is in its plasticity and ability - nay willingness - to steal from other languages. Embrace it.
GWLast edited by Grey_Wolf_c; 2017-06-14 at 02:45 PM.
Interested in MitD? Join us in MitD's thread.There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
Ceterum autem censeo Hilgya malefica est
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2017-06-14, 08:46 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
No it doesn't. At best it's subjective preference, at worst it sounds pretentious.
Or are you saying that Englih should limit itself to, what, anglo-saxon words only? To take a random word you used: example is pretty much pure Latin (exempli), and I'm sure the concept can be expressed in anglo-saxon terms if you really dig into the language, but why bother? English's strength is in its plasticity and ability - nay willingness - to steal from other languages. Embrace it.
GW
It's also worth pointing out that the topic is "Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you," not "Totally ironclad rules of language that everyone must live by." It bugs me, it probably doesn't bug you, that's okay.
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2017-06-14, 08:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- Birmingham, AL
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-15, 02:07 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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- The Future...
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
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2017-06-15, 04:37 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jun 2006
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- Poland
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
I agree with that.
Along with excessive wordiness (verbosity, if you must) of modern languages, especially English...
History of languages is the history of borrowings, and all, but I still can't wrap my head around longer, less graceful words displacing better ones. Mostly because they sound 'new' and 'hot'.
Polish language did have quite a lot of terms to say 'offended', 'bugged' and whatever, but now everyone uses 'bulwersować' which, is long, awkward, and of course mostly mean 'turn/roll the ball' in French. XDAvatar by KwarkpuddingThe subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die, dogs—I was a man before I was a king.
Whoever makes shoddy beer, shall be thrown into manure - town law from Gdańsk, XIth century.
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2017-06-15, 06:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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2017-06-15, 07:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2015
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2017-06-15, 07:23 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- Birmingham, AL
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-15, 07:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2007
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
I mean words that are used in common parlance in English but are in actuality completely untranslated French, 'rendezvous' is the best one I can think of really. Also, by accent I don't mean dropping the letters that are silent, I mean literally gaining a voice like Pepe Le Pew for just that word
This may be true but due to my location being in England I am not exposed to it too much outside of American TV shows. That being said I am from Liverpool so my accent is pretty strong and not what you would describe as cultured so who am I to judge!
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2017-06-15, 08:15 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2007
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Well, it's not Pepe le Pew, but I can't help but use a french r when pronouncing rendezvous. I was never able to get my French 'e's right, but years of practice means I have to actively try to NOT pronounce the 'r'.
And yes, this is the exact example of my issue with "how dare you use x when y, a 'proper' word will do" - that I strongly doubt it is in any way applied uniformly. "Je ne sais quois" may bother Velaryon, but does that extend to rendezvous, entrepreneur, veal, dossier, ambulance, bayonet, camouflage, etc.? It smacks of double standards, based more on familiarity to the words than their actual stated reasoning.
Ironically, of course, the most famous for this approach to "the purity of language" is the French Academy, who keeps trying (with no success) to get the French people to use French words for everything, and keep decrying "the young" for using English words instead.
Grey WolfInterested in MitD? Join us in MitD's thread.There is a world of imagination
Deep in the corners of your mind
Where reality is an intruder
And myth and legend thrive
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2017-06-15, 09:12 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2016
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Last edited by Bohandas; 2017-06-15 at 09:14 AM.
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2017-06-15, 09:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2009
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- Birmingham, AL
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Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 2
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2017-06-15, 09:47 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2012
- Location
- In the Playground, duh.
Re: Completely unimportant language misuses that bug you
I for one will always pronounce French words in a French accent. Further, "Wipers" and "Ore-Leens" physically hurt me. Fortunately, we seem to have decided that pronouncing German words like German words are pronounced is okay, so I don't have to deal with the Third Rayitch and the Nazzy party.