Pedants' Paradise

[Nick Armstrong]

... and then again, if you wish, cf -

https://www.urbandictionary.com/defi...&defid=1815231

Je mourrai moins bête!

[Nick Armstrong]

As soon as I see an Englishman writing 'generally' I know there is no rule as such and you can make it up as you go along

It's not pedantry; it's snobbery

Or should that be 'snobery'

[Anna]

Or should that be 'snobery'

Snobery = urban slang = smartarse! No, to stay ontopic, I always use a double ss in the word under discussion.

[MrGongGong]

Or should that be 'snobery'

or even this ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdjzOgblyu4

[french frank]

... I wd tend to Walpoling. The -l rule has various exceptions - appealed, appealing; travailed, travailing.

So far in our litrachur I think the word "Walpoling" is hapax legomenon, no?

If it's from Walpole, my inclination would be to include the 'e' : age - ageing (another disputed point. House style at the media organ where once I toiled was to include the 'e', and old habits &c.) Walpolling would be the pres. part from 'to Walpoll'. N'existe pas.

[french frank]

As soon as I see an Englishman writing 'generally' I know there is no rule as such and you can make it up as you go along

Fit ither cud it be?

general + ly = general-ly, generally

correct + ly = correct-ly, correctly

full + ly = full-ly, fullly

[gurnemanz]

If it's from Walpole, my inclination would be to include the 'e' : age - ageing (another disputed point. House style at the media organ where once I toiled was to include the 'e', and old habits &c.) Walpolling would be the pres. part from 'to Walpoll'. N'existe pas.

Anyone for a bit of "flagpoling"? (probably not)

I learnt three new meanings here:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=flagpoling

[amateur51]

Anyone for a bit of "flagpoling"? (probably not)

I learnt three new meanings here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=flagpoling

Is this what actrines mean by 'building your part'?

[Nick Armstrong]

Anyone for a bit of "flagpoling"? (probably not)

I learnt three new meanings here:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...erm=flagpoling

I clicked on that link with a trepidation which was fully justified by the contents!

[mangerton]

I clicked on that link with a trepidation which was fully justified by the contents!

Quite. I'd have been happy to remain in ignorance of that.

To get back to "focus", I must admit to preferring - not prefering - the single s, but I'm not bothered either way.

I'm far more concerned that the word now appears to be a synonym for "concentrate". Whose idea was that? As ams51 has pointed out, the word should be confined to physics and to optically-related matters.

[french frank]

As ams51 has pointed out, the word should be confined to physics and to optically-related matters.

Hmmm. It's Latin for 'hearth' or 'fire' (French feu) so I think a range of meaning is allowable.

[Flosshilde]

I clicked on that link with a trepidation which was fully justified by the contents!

Hmm - I suspect it's more a case of 'urban myth' than 'urban dictionary' (on the basis that the second definition is more usually known as 'tenting' )

However, if you have the misfortune to be in a meeting with the type of person who says (of an idea) "let's run it up a flagpole & see if anyone salutes" you can look suitably shocked & tell them to wash their mouths out.

As far as focus(s)ed is concerned, I think it suggests something more emphatic than 'concentrating'.

[Pabmusic]

I clicked on that link with a trepidation which was fully justified by the contents!

Me too ... [recovers in tranquility] ... Well, I suppose it's American, hence the single 'l'. That was Noah Webster's idea (single 'l's, not flagpoling). Webster was a teetotal, humourless, puritanical bore and busybody. His spelling tutor became the biggest-selling book in the USA, after the bible. Fortunately, many of his reformed spellings didn't 'take': soop, bred, wimmen, groop, definit, fether, fugitiv, bild. He was very inconsistent, though, and retained the 'u' in glamour, and the 're' in acre, whilst advocating the -or and -er endings elsewhere. He also insisted on the pronunciation of lieutenant as lootenant (something resisted by the US military until the 1890s!). (It's been pronounced leftenant since it entered the language in the 14th century, although lootenant was never far away. It may represent a French dialect pronunciation, or simply a contemporary fad.)

[vinteuil]

He also insisted on the pronunciation of lieutenant as lootenant (something resisted by the US military until the 1890s!). (It's been pronounced leftenant since it entered the language in the 14th century, although lootenant was never far away. It may represent a French dialect pronunciation, or simply a contemporary fad.)

... 'leftenant' in the British Army - but traditionalists in the Royal Navy wd say 'lootènant commander'.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Webster was a teetotal, humourless, puritanical bore and busybody. His spelling tutor became the biggest-selling book in the USA, after the bible. Fortunately, many of his reformed spellings didn't 'take': soop, bred, wimmen, groop, definit, fether, fugitiv, bild. He was very inconsistent, though, and retained the 'u' in glamour, and the 're' in acre, whilst advocating the -or and -er endings elsewhere..

Sometimes, he just liked to be difficult (like driving on the right). Hence "fulfill".