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Pedants' corner

It's DISCREET, people.

41 replies

letsblowthistacostand · 02/10/2009 23:52

Discreet. Discreet. Discreeeeeeeeeet.

Don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does.

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 00:07

Well, if you're talking about a discrete issue, it's not discreet, is it?

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letsblowthistacostand · 03/10/2009 00:10

Very true Tiger, but they never are.

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 00:17

True indeed.

I like words like discrete though. As opposed to discreet, which has shades of the panty liner.

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Pyrocanthus · 03/10/2009 00:19

At DD's primary school they learn maths as a discreet topic, according to most of the termly info. sheets (a couple of teachers have spotted it on the pro forma and changed it). I love to think of them all discussing subtraction in polite undertones.

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IdrisTheDragon · 03/10/2009 00:22

Complimentary and complementary is a bugbear of mine.

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 00:23

Love it pyro (is it ok to call you pyro, I can't be bothered to type your whole name).

(I can hear it now. "Don't tell: we're doing tables next week".)

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 00:25

stationary and stationery are also good. As you can only get stationery from a stationer, there shouldn't be any problem, but crikey,it does cause problems

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Pyrocanthus · 03/10/2009 00:25

Pyro is absolutely fine, Tiger (if I may).

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UnquietDad · 03/10/2009 00:27

A friend once told me about a memo he got while working in a bank:

"The stationary cupboard has moved."

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 00:30

UQD

I love "if I may", and indeed use it in business letters and emails rather too freely. If I say so myself, that is.

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letsblowthistacostand · 03/10/2009 01:02

Principle/principal very annoying as well.

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BiteOfFun · 03/10/2009 02:15

Hate all of these- lose/loose is the worst on here though.

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TrillianAstra · 03/10/2009 02:55

I was about to say that sometimes it is discrete.

Just like both affect and effect can be a verb and a noun, but they are hardly ever the unexpected one.

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kickassangel · 03/10/2009 03:44

just discovered this week that yanks only have the word practise, not practice.
now that has done my head in.

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CheerfulYank · 03/10/2009 03:52

We don't have practise at all actually It's all about practice!

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kickassangel · 03/10/2009 04:00

sorry, wrong way round. see, i got confused, my friends started winding me up & saying it was practize!!

i used to teach english & was adament about the difference between practice & practise, particularly when some members of the english staff got it wrong!

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CheerfulYank · 03/10/2009 04:03

What is the difference? We just have the one, so I'm honestly curious.

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kickassangel · 03/10/2009 04:06

practice as a noun, so you would go to the doctor's practice, as that is a place.

practise is a verb. so you would practise your spellings for school.

so you can't change practice (apart from adding an s for plural)
but you can used practised, practising etc

there's loads of other spellings i've learnt about since moving here, more than i ever imagined. every so often i have a moment as someone says something that just doesn't quite work, and i have to sit & think what they meant!

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kickassangel · 03/10/2009 04:08

ok, off to bed now. tis after 11 pm here, and after a little drinkie i'm feeling very dopey.

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CheerfulYank · 03/10/2009 04:12

Happy dreams, neighbor

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TrillianAstra · 03/10/2009 10:57

yy to practice/practise

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TsarChasm · 03/10/2009 11:08

'stationery' has an 'e' for envelope in it which helps me remember that's the one for pens and pencils etc...

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BiteOfFun · 03/10/2009 11:10

It's easier to think of it like advice/advise, if that helps.

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TrillianAstra · 03/10/2009 11:13

I didn't know about stationery/stationary until a couple of years ago - I don't think we were taught it in school.

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TigerDrivesAgain · 03/10/2009 11:16

You buy your stationery from a stationer - that's how I remember: once you've got it, fine.

Bit of a sidetrack, but you know if you say "he pored over every detail" - it is "pore/pored" isn't it - not "pour/poured". I've just stuck this in a letter to a client and now I am wondering (thanks to this thread, tbh) if I've used completely the wrong word.

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