Vacuums (sorry!!!)

[Itsjustafleshwound]

Are spaces entirely devoid of matter and are about as useful as a one-legged man in an a*sekicking competition when it comes to cleaning houses...

Vacuuum cleaners or hoovers on the other hand ...

If there suddenly was a vacuum in the middle of your house, I suppose it would be very clean, but not terribly practical, as all your belongings would be sucked into it...

On your description I think I might have met a few vacuums - in fact I think I went out with one.

Also, as you are being pedantic it falls upon me to say that 'hoovers' is a brand name not a product description

Cats - I agree, Hoover is a brand name so it's not correct to use it to describe a Miele, for example.

Hoover has entered the general language for a vacuum cleaner, personally I like it because it is almost onamatapeic of something being sucked up the pipe.

yes Hoover the company no longer chase up hoover used as generic word for vacuum cleaner so it's OK.

OTOH don't dare say biro or portakabin when you mean ballpoint pen or portable building or your publication will get a solicitor's letter...

Just because they don't chase it up any more, doesn't make it right!

I'm not a fan of adopting something that is blatently wrong just because of popular trend (such as Strictly Come Dancing, for example - so wrong)

Just kidding, but Hoover does annoy me. Strangely, Selotape doesn't. Ho hum.

hoover is in the dictionary I am sure.
I mean as a generic word
See here

Clary - I don't doubt you. I just don't personally like the culture of adopting something (such as by putting it in the dictionary) just because it is often used, when that usage is in fact wrong.

I dread to think that words like 'fing' will reach the dictionary one day because so many people are unable to pronounce their 'th's. Or that 'texes' will become the accepted plural of 'text' (as in 'message') because a radio 1 DJ uses it (wrongly).

But words such as these will probably reach the dictionary if they are used often enough. That doesn't make them right. There are some truely questionably words and phrases in the dictionary these days.

The use of hoover for vacuuming the floor does bother me (I so need to get a life) but hadn't, until now, considered selotape too.

MightyToosh (fab name ), but how else should language evolve, change, stay alive if it isn't allowed to adopt new words. How we speak now is considerably different to how we did in say the middle ages, does that make it wrong? (although have to agree with your two examples - make my teeth itch!).

I have to stick my twopenneth in here and recommend people "search" the internet, not "Google" (too many radio presenters annoying me, along with their bl**dy Twittering, or FaceBook "fan clubs")

(Yes, Googling may be incorporated into some dictionary, but still wrongly, in my view... incidentally, Google had greater share of searches in the UK than in any other country... I use www.MetaCrawler.com which pulls in results from several search machines!)

A further "pet niggle" is when I hear/ see people being told to "log on" to the website at www.blahblah.co.uk when they mean "view" or "visit". "Log on" (or "login") is what one does with a USERNAME and PASSWORD for sites/ services which require unique identification, not for simply VIEWING the web pages, FGS

People, people

Language has to evolve, as mycat says, or forsooth, we would all speak in ye manner of Shakespeare, begad!

I personally have a problem with the fact that the past tense of "text" appears to be "text" as in "he text me yesterday" wtf?

Do you all talk about vacuum cleaning the carpet then [boggles] {grin}

That was meant to be for the last smiley

Haha Clary and Cats - you are both right, I know. Language has to evolve, I know I am a walking contradiction because I would not like to still be speaking Shakespearean (though could live with Jane Austin speak )

I think I just like language the way I know it now and am reluctant to see it change, especially when it is for the wrong reasons. But I have often thought lately that we are on the brink of a period of language evolution brought about by text speak etc. I'm just resisting it in my own small and futile way

I say I'm going to vaccuum the floor. So I'm just as bad, as I manage to use it as a verb (sorry OP, must make your blood boil!)

And text for past tense winds me up, too Clary. Ugh. It will be the text message that spells the end to English as we know it. Pretty soon we will all be keeping our beans in the kitchen cubads...

ooh I hate text spellings. Grrr.

However, I am guilty of both hoovering and vacuuming the floor with my Miele; and have always called sellotape "sellotape", and biros "biros".

Hoover has definitely entered the language as a word (both noun and verb) in its own right - otherwise when one talks about "people hoovering up all the starters at a function" (for example), others would be imagining them using a vacuum cleaner, rather than just scoffing the starters very fast.

Shakespearean English must have been very interesting, since he is reputed to have introduced many new words into the language. Probably lots of people at his plays then (as now?) sat there in wonderment at what the hell he was on about...

Before anyone else says it for me, yes I KNOW the grammar in that last section was abysmal.