Pedants' Paradise

[vinteuil]

The intransitive is well-established for one part of a person: 'My knee hurts'

... yes - almost akin to the Greek 'middle voice' - not active or passive voice, but "a verb voice that indicates the subject is both the agent and the focus of an action, or is somehow involved with the action. In other words, the subject is both the cause and the experiencer of the action."
As also "the door opens"
.

[gurnemanz]

The use of transitive verbs as if they were intransitive is a bugaboo of mine. I believe it is an Americanism.

'She's hurting because he won't commit'.

I know what you mean. Presumably, it is the modern usage where a whole person can be thought of as hurting which offends. The intransitive is well-established for one part of a person: 'My knee hurts' (true in my case) or even 'my shoe hurts'. (I vaguely remember a Spike Milligan character called Madame Legerts - Puckoon??). Also more tolerable, for me at least, is the intransitive usage: 'It doesn't hurt that .." in the sense of: 'it is not detrimental that' or even 'it is beneficial that'.

[smittims]

The use of transitive verbs as if they were intransitive is a bugaboo of mine. I believe it is an Americanism.

'She's hurting because he won't commit'.

[Serial_Apologist]

According to a BBC reporter on art restoration at Hampton Court Palace a few minutes ago, "The project completes next month".

I am pretty sure that we were told that "complete" was a transitive verb when I was at school. In the above usage the project (subject), would surely need to be completing something which has been left unstated (object) to make grammatical sense. Why not just simply say "the project will be completed next month"? This to me is just another example of sloppy English by the once high standards setting BBC.

[smittims]

I'm ashamed (or is it relieved?) to say that I didn't make any sense of that quotation from Michelle Obama. She might as well have been speaking ancient egyptian to me. At least it means I needn't bother reading anything else she says.

Two nations divided by a common language...

[eighthobstruction]

....as a phrase delivered at a huge convention event in a large auditorium it is a difficult phrase to pitch - as it can easily be heard as falling forward....I loved the jibe, that with 45 speaking so often about 'black jobs' - that the Presidency might just be one of those Black Jobs....The US elite have now learned irony, whether your average citizen gets it may still be up for debate (I couldn't spell - debatable)

[gurnemanz]

I'm not familiar with that one - but failing upwards is pretty common, and the phenomenon to which it refers has been around for heaven knows how long, although previous descriptions were of the "promoted out of harm's way" type?

Not come across falling upwards. Roughly the same, I assume, as being "kicked upstairs", which is more familiar to me ...... as a phrase rather than actually happening to me.

[french frank]

failing upwards is pretty common, and the phenomenon to which it refers has been around for heaven knows how long, although previous descriptions were of the "promoted out of harm's way" type?

The Dilbert principle?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle

[Pulcinella]

Thanks all.
Not sure why my original quoted layout didn't work: amended now.
Maybe the quotation marks themselves interfered with the quote command!

[french frank]

I found this quote online: "Winston Churchill once said, “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” This quote perfectly encapsulates the idea of failing forward, ..."

So learning lessons from your failure, which ties in with the quote from the Guardian about people not getting second chances, never the opportunity to 'fail forward'.

[LMcD]

[QUOTE=oddoneout;n1315689]

Not sure that this is the right thread, as it's possibly just a phrase that's unfamiliar to me, but what on earth does 'failing forward' (I don't think that it's a Grauniad typo) mean?



I'm not familiar with that one - but failing upwards is pretty common, and the phenomenon to which it refers has been around for heaven knows how long, although previous descriptions were of the "promoted out of harm's way" type?

Apparently to 'fall forward' is to embrace failure and profit from one's mistakes. This is very confusing to somebody who remembers to change the clocks twice a year on the basis of 'Spring forward, fall back'.

[oddoneout]

[QUOTE=Pulcinella;n1315688]Not sure that this is the right thread, as it's possibly just a phrase that's unfamiliar to me, but what on earth does 'failing forward' (I don't think that it's a Grauniad typo) mean?

Harris, Michelle Obama said, “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.”[/QUOTE]

I'm not familiar with that one - but failing upwards is pretty common, and the phenomenon to which it refers has been around for heaven knows how long, although previous descriptions were of the "promoted out of harm's way" type?

[Pulcinella]

Not sure that this is the right thread, as it's possibly just a phrase that's unfamiliar to me, but what on earth does 'failing forward' (I don't think that it's a Grauniad typo) mean?

Harris, Michelle Obama said, “understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.”

[AuntDaisy]

'If you see something that doesn't look right in someone's recycling bin, call British Recycling Police on..."

[kernelbogey]

See it, say it, sort it... *

'If you see something that doesn't look right in someone's recycling bin, call British Recycling Police on..."