It's 'make do' , not 'make due'?

[oldlaundbooth]

AIBU?

Colleague senior academic associate wrote' We'll make due' in an email

It's 'make do', right?

I'm not too sure myself Jessie! I will find the PC thread where very mathematical minded people discussed it, and link.

It was something to do with viewing the entirety as either a whole, or as individual components. Or something!

thenlater grammar AND maths!

Generally speaking, 'less than' is used for quantities and 'fewer than' is used for countable items.

Fewer than a 10 children.
Less than 500g of flour.

Make due lol (may have been auto correct though).

On the subject of phrases my DD (and some of her friends on FB) keep saying they 'can't be asked' - I thought it was 'can't be arsed' ??

Lifeisgoodish I know the rule. I'm saying that the example I gave is, to my mind, a grey area which makes application of the rule difficult. What do you think it should be? I think that students are countable but the Guardian does not seem to.

Oh, definitely countable!

Fewer than half of students...
Less than half of the student population...

Perhaps it's the 'half' that causes the confusion here, feeling like a quantity, rather than a number.

Here's what Michael Dummet has to say about it in Grammar & Style:
(2nd half of the 2nd para)

On the same note as pre-order, I think pre-warn is also completely unnecessary. My old boss said it all the time

I agree that pre-order is an entirely reasonable term for when you want to place an order for something that hasn't yet been released.

Pre-order is fine. You can order a drink at the bar before the show; or you can pre-order one for the interval. Gin & tonic, if you're asking.

And another thing; it's barbecue. Not barbeque.

Good luck with that in Texas :-)

An old work mate used to pronounce hindsight as "high in sight" bloody drove me mad. How does that make sense?

All of my workmate pronounce eczema (the skin condition) as ex-zeema. We have had numerous arguments as I'm sure it is pronounced as exzma. I'm actually starting to doubt myself as so many of them disagree, I'm assuming it's a regional thing? Or am I wrong after all?

Yes reallybadidea!! I also hate it when people say "my husband and I" when it should be "my husband and me".

I would say 'my husband and I are going shopping' and would be correct !

Yes, doinmummy in that example it would be correct to use "my husband and I" but in other examples it would not be!

Sorry I've not read all the posts

I once thought a scape goat was "an escaped goat" until my friend corrected me!

Using "why" instead of "while":

"Wait here why I go in the shop "
"You get a table why I get the coffees"

Aaarrgghhhhh

waffer I suspect that's Scots Vowel Length Rule coming into play there. See also mee-graine instead of my-graine.

Or fillum instead of film!

Omg people use why instead of while?!

Yes waffer I immediately guessed that you must be in Scotland- correct? I say eck-zma now after living so long in England but growing up it was Ec-zee-ma and I am fairly sure my doctor said it that way too.

I used to think it was Full proof until I saw Fool proof written down - made much more sense!
I was 16 at this point though. Maybe tell her I'd like to know!!

Problems like mistaking foolproof for full proof and make do for make due would all disappear if only everyone could learn to speak in RP like wot I try to.