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Pedants' corner
Original poster

Mourning the apparent demise of electricity

184 replies

MontyDonsBlueScarf · 13/10/2023 15:26

... but taking some small comfort in the thought of getting a shock from an electric bill.

Anyone else?

OP posts:
Twwodoorsaway · 13/10/2023 18:40

I’ve found my people! My pet hates are a chest of draws. And babies or animals being birthed. Or birthing. It is giving birth!

Username620 · 13/10/2023 18:45

sparklefresh · 13/10/2023 17:04

What is your job and where do I apply?!

Show quote history

I’m an Editor and proofreader. Every day I have to read documents for our customers and correct them. I love it, and most are not written by people that are English mother tongue so it can be very funny sometimes.

sparklefresh · 13/10/2023 19:04

@Username620 that sounds glorious! I'm very envious.

ichundich · 13/10/2023 19:15

Less 😉 people using "fewer".

OnlyOpenMouthToChangeFeet · 13/10/2023 19:47

Abra1t · 13/10/2023 16:53

It’s a lovely desert, though.

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Did you mean dessert, perhaps... 😉

Reallybadidea · 13/10/2023 21:52

One nice thing I've noticed is that alot has made some new friends - abit, afew, incase and infact.

MartyFunkhouser · 13/10/2023 22:00

I mourn the loss of 'invitation'.

My gym now has a 'wait' list as 'waiting' is clearly too much work.

7Worfs · 13/10/2023 22:14

Rabbitcar · 13/10/2023 16:28

My lovely new boss wrote the following today:

Changing tact instead of tack
I’m not adverse to instead of averse to
Rational instead of rationale

I hate myself for noticing. I would never say anything of course.

At first I thought your new boss wrote a pedants’ poem. 🤭

My old boss used to use the word “showstopper” without knowing its meaning.

Another old boss (the CEO) mispronounced the name of the company (it has “resource” as a noun in the title, he pronounced it as a verb).
I notice that a lot with people who want to sound smart, and words like resource, detail, research, combat, address…

Rabbitcar · 13/10/2023 22:17

@7Worfs Yes, a few bullets would have helped!

LilyLemonade · 13/10/2023 22:20

Splitscreened · 13/10/2023 17:48

I only ever see that on here! Is it regional? I was assuming it was (though don’t know which, as am not from the UK), along the lines of what I assume are other regional usages like ‘That needs gone’ or ‘The dog needs washed’.

The thing I find baffling, but also personally inimical, is usage of ‘side’ to mean kitchen counter or work surface. Is that regional? Again, I’ve only seen it on here. I don’t quite know why I dislike it so much.

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I think it’s regional. I’ve heard much older folk say something like this too.

ThirdDressStress · 13/10/2023 22:29

Saucery · 13/10/2023 17:55

It was referred to as the “kitchen side” or “side” when I was growing up in the North West. Does it come from “sideboard” perhaps? There was never a “side” anywhere else in the house, everyone knew it meant the kitchen counter. Counters were either pieces from a board game or where you paid for your goods in a shop.

Yes we have to wipe the sides down when we do the dishes.

LilyLemonade · 13/10/2023 22:31

ShakespeareInTurmoil · 13/10/2023 18:04

Sorry to pull it up, but it annoys me when companies are referred to as a plural - ‘Pret has a chocolate moose’ not ‘have’. 🙂

I think this is quite standard English. Grammatically singular subject but a plural implication. It’s like ‘the government have decided’ or ‘the police have arrested’. You’d only use a singular verb if you were talking about those bodies as a singular concept eg as an institution rather than as a collection of people.
Thus:
The government have put forward legislation (the multiple people who make up the government), but
The government has fallen (the whole institution )
Pret are selling chocolate mousse (the collective of people who make up pret), but
Pret has been floated on the stock market (pret as a singular company).

sadaboutmycat · 13/10/2023 22:32

QuestionableMouse · 13/10/2023 15:55

We say gas and electric in the North East too.

Nothing wrong with it, imo. Language is and should be fluid.

Spot on!!

Original poster
MontyDonsBlueScarf · 13/10/2023 22:59

sadaboutmycat · 13/10/2023 22:32

Spot on!!

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Fluidity isn't always a good thing, surely? We're all poorer if meaningful and useful distinctions are lost. That's just a race to the bottom.

Disinterested/uninterested, discreet/discrete are now words I can't read without wondering whether I'm properly understanding what was meant. How does that benefit anyone?

OP posts:
Ellmau · 13/10/2023 23:03

I hate newspapers saying a couple 'have welcomed' a child, rather than had a baby, or that they 'share a child'.

Fahbeep · 13/10/2023 23:11

Genuine question: are the Pedants of Pedant's Corner the official MN language police? Or is it like being Special Constables, just a weekend thing? Grin

MorrisZapp · 13/10/2023 23:14

Ellmau · 13/10/2023 23:03

I hate newspapers saying a couple 'have welcomed' a child, rather than had a baby, or that they 'share a child'.

Oh god this is unbearable. The thought of babies being 'welcomed' is just so weird. And the shared kids always make me think the parents have split up! I don't share my kid with my partner, we have him.

happyinherts · 13/10/2023 23:16

I also find it amusing when newspapers say 'gave birth to a child named (add in name).

Did the baby come out with a notice proclaiming its name?

drspouse · 13/10/2023 23:21

Itinerary bangs gavel
Unless it also has destinations it's a timetable or a schedule.

Nicesalad · 13/10/2023 23:26

Twwodoorsaway · 13/10/2023 18:40

I’ve found my people! My pet hates are a chest of draws. And babies or animals being birthed. Or birthing. It is giving birth!

birthing is better than "welcoming"

INeedAnotherName · 13/10/2023 23:29

incase and infact.
Blame my autocorrect. I assume at some point I told it to use that spelling but I have no idea when as it wouldn't have been a conscious decision. It also insists Google has an initial capital at all times. I can change it, press post and oops it did it again 😡

I’m not adverse to instead of averse to
Hmmmmm 🤔

Username620 · 13/10/2023 23:31

@7Worfs My old boss used to use the word “showstopper” without knowing its meaning.

in what way were they using it? Because it has two meanings that are unfortunatly opposite. It is positive in the theatre but negative in business.

Username620 · 13/10/2023 23:37

Ellmau · 13/10/2023 23:03

I hate newspapers saying a couple 'have welcomed' a child, rather than had a baby, or that they 'share a child'.

They normally say “the couple has welcomed a child” using the singular verb even though it is a collection of people.

ErrolTheDragon · 13/10/2023 23:43

Fahbeep · 13/10/2023 23:11

Genuine question: are the Pedants of Pedant's Corner the official MN language police? Or is it like being Special Constables, just a weekend thing? Grin

More like the Neighbourhood Watch, I fear.
(And it's Pedants' Corner, there are lots of us!Grin)

Username620 · 13/10/2023 23:49

Just seen on another thread - someone wrote her colleagues are pissed.
To me, that means they are drunk.
Another poster wanted to know what they were annoyed about.
I hear it more and more, people saying they are pissed rather than pissed off. Is this a new expression that has crept in?