Semantics

[doversoul1]

Ammy and Wald:

Go here: http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php

Click on the [2] next to "Basic smileys"

The *Doh* is third up on the bottom right of the page.

Copy the "Forum code" in the box under the picture and simply paste into your message...

So easy....!

I thought this thread was about words and not about pictures (I am old fashioned)

vinteuil

syntax, stylistics, register, sociolinguistics, pronunciation, spelling, etymology &c)

and pragmatics and speech act etc…

[salymap]

Well said, Doversoul. You at least won't get an ear bashing from Am51 as I usually do.

[amateur51]

Well said, Dovesoul. You at least won't get an ear bashing from Am51 as I usually do.

Methinks the lady doth protest too much!

Anyone else know the Coral Browne story linked to this?

[vinteuil]

Regarding "continually" and "continuously"...

I was taught to visualise the S of continuously as a river - flowing allthetimewithouteverceasing - whereas by contrast continually could mean always but with possible intermittences - I am continually being interrupted by the noise of the kiwis in the house opposite...

[vinteuil]

I
vinteuil
...
and pragmatics and speech act etc…

... yes indeedy, not forgettin' phonology, morphology, lexis, graphetics, and oodles more goodies...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics

[Nick Armstrong]

Anyone else know the Coral Browne story linked to this?

No! Do tell!

[gurnemanz]

One fascinating thing about language is that it is the so-called "errors" of usage that are the engine that keep languages developing, like genetic mutations in biological evolution.
For example, the English present continuous verb aspect which is a key element of modern English syntax and one which causes immense problems to foreign learners ("I am working" as opposed to "I work") does not figure at all in Shakespeare or the King James Bible. Presumably, some traditionalists at the time regarded it as a horrendous modern invasion as it wormed its way into usage.

I am quite ambivalent about incorrect usage. On the one hand, I know that ultimately the only incorrect language is that which fails effectively to communicate. On the other hand, I am very punctilious about correct usage. Currently, I get quite upset about "amount of people" instead of "number of....". You cannot use "amount" with a countable noun in the plural.

[marthe]

May I join in this conversation even though I'm a Yank?

[Chris Newman]

I get tired of the newish fad "Criminality". What was wrong with the good old "crime"? Same tendency as "waste disposal operative", methinks.

[Mahlerei]

One oddity I've noticed on the Beeb and elsewhere is the use of concerning where I would expect to hear worrying. And the insidious of (eg outside of when outside will do). And there's compared to and compared with.

Worst of all are the continual clichés - grassroots, on the ground, light at the end of the tunnel, green shoots of recovery etc.

Sigh.

[Simon]

I'm sure you are welcome here Marthe, as always.

And thanks to all who have helped with the "continually" question I asked. Appreciated.

[french frank]

May I join in this conversation even though I'm a Yank?

Of course, you may, marthe, as long as you don't take offence at assaults on your language!

[french frank]

One thing I've noticed is that some people are highly resistant to using new/imported expressions while others leap to employ them.

I'm of the first kind because I don't like copying or being influenced in that way. If you're the second kind, why do you like using the latest expressions?

[Simon]

I think people use them to appear hip and trendy, so I'm generally with you on this one, ff. We conservatives must of course stick together...

But there again, seriously, perhaps there are some new expressions that so admirably fit the bill that they glide effortlessly into usage...

[Lateralthinking1]

The Royal Correspondent who isn't royal. Should be Royalty.

She went "I go to Argos" and I went "do you?" and she went "yes".

Aw, bless.

I was like "oh my God" because it was like amazing.

You're a star.

The last four are nearly always women. I blame "Friends".