Pedants' Paradise

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  • Sir Velo
    Full Member
    • Oct 2012
    • 3216

    Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
    Clumsy to the point of being meaningless - and if it was seen by an editor then it doesn't say much for that person's abilities in my opinion.
    Moreover, assuming "they" refers to the Scottish people or electorate, Peck appears to be imputing to Sturgeon either a complete disdain for proportional representation or for views opposed to her own for, surely, some Scots, indeed quite a substantial minority, would have, and indeed did, vote for Thatcher's and her successor's government at four successive elections from 1979 through to 1992.

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    • Dave2002
      Full Member
      • Dec 2010
      • 17943

      Originally posted by Sydney Grew View Post
      A thread for all Members who enjoy being pedantic, about any subject at all. To begin:

      Upon looking through Thomas Gaspey's book Calthorpe, published in 1821, we came across some emendations evidently (from the hand-writing) inserted by some nineteenth-century pedant:






      Do Members think the pedant was right? About number two there can hardly be any question can there that he was, but we are less certain about the first and third. Indeed the O.E.D. would appear specifically to allow both "the same that" and "the same as" (when followed by a clause). But our anonymous pedant must have felt strongly about the matter. Perhaps the difference between "that" and "as" here is that one indicates identity and the other similarity.
      I can't even figure out what the "correction" is for number two - in spite of enlarging the image considerably.

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      • vinteuil
        Full Member
        • Nov 2010
        • 12659

        Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
        I can't even figure out what the "correction" is for number two - in spite of enlarging the image considerably.
        "whom" for "who"

        .

        Comment

        • oddoneout
          Full Member
          • Nov 2015
          • 8956

          Ranunculus flowers at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California, have reopened for limited visitor numbers.
          Caption to a photo in the Guardian. I'm pretty certain it's the fields that have re-opened, not the flowers... Would be a good trick if possible though?

          Comment

          • cloughie
            Full Member
            • Dec 2011
            • 22066

            Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
            Caption to a photo in the Guardian. I'm pretty certain it's the fields that have re-opened, not the flowers... Would be a good trick if possible though?
            Might have had a cold spell!

            Talking of spelling #5102 should it be negociation or negotiation. I suppose it could have been then!
            Last edited by cloughie; 07-04-21, 09:33.

            Comment

            • Serial_Apologist
              Full Member
              • Dec 2010
              • 37297

              Originally posted by oddoneout View Post
              Caption to a photo in the Guardian. I'm pretty certain it's the fields that have re-opened, not the flowers... Would be a good trick if possible though?
              If so it would not be so far from what the exhibitors do, using a range of procedures such as keeping plants in bud in cold shutdown to synchronise floral displays with the Chelsea Flower Show week. Hence daffodils blooming in May, etc. I really despise the literally forced artificiality of all this "perfectionism".

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              • Ein Heldenleben
                Full Member
                • Apr 2014
                • 6565

                Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
                If so it would not be so far from what the exhibitors do, using a range of procedures such as keeping plants in bud in cold shutdown to synchronise floral displays with the Chelsea Flower Show week. Hence daffodils blooming in May, etc. I really despise the literally forced artificiality of all this "perfectionism".
                Is it weird to find flower shows a bit sad ? Or am I over-sensitive ...?

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                • Bryn
                  Banned
                  • Mar 2007
                  • 24688

                  Originally posted by Heldenleben View Post
                  Is it weird to find flower shows a bit sad ? Or am I over-sensitive ...?
                  For me, the best flower shows are wildflower meadows, more of which will hopefully return, year on year.

                  Comment

                  • vinteuil
                    Full Member
                    • Nov 2010
                    • 12659

                    Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                    For me, the best flower shows are wildflower meadows, more of which will hopefully return, year on year.
                    ... happy childhood memories -

                    Cricklade North meadow is an old hay meadow which is now part of the National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is most…



                    .

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                    • Bryn
                      Banned
                      • Mar 2007
                      • 24688

                      Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
                      Ah, childhood memories of camping by and fishing from the Thames close by Cricklade United Church, (though I did not know its designation at the time).

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                      • gurnemanz
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 7353

                        Originally posted by vinteuil View Post
                        ... happy childhood memories -

                        Cricklade North meadow is an old hay meadow which is now part of the National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is most…
                        Also in North Wilts are the Morningside Meadows. Very close to us and can be included in my daily bike ride.

                        The five fields near Royal Wootton Bassett are abundant with wildflowers in summer.

                        Comment

                        • french frank
                          Administrator/Moderator
                          • Feb 2007
                          • 29870

                          Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                          Talking of spelling #5102 should it be negociation or negotiation. I suppose it could have been then!
                          Coincidentally, I typed 'negociation' just a few days ago, and on reflection I thought I was confusing it with French and altered it to negotiation which seems to be the modern spelling, not an alternative.

                          But to get the thread back off topic again: as Stanley Baldwin wrote, with 66.666% truth: "There are three classes which need sanctuary, birds, wild flowers and Prime Ministers."
                          It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

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                          • Serial_Apologist
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 37297

                            Originally posted by Heldenleben View Post
                            Is it weird to find flower shows a bit sad ? Or am I over-sensitive ...?
                            As with any perfection, with those garish flower displays - especially indoors - the question naturally arises: where to from here?

                            Comment

                            • Serial_Apologist
                              Full Member
                              • Dec 2010
                              • 37297

                              Originally posted by Bryn View Post
                              For me, the best flower shows are wildflower meadows, more of which will hopefully return, year on year.
                              Which answers my own rhetorical question, above.

                              Comment

                              • oddoneout
                                Full Member
                                • Nov 2015
                                • 8956

                                Originally posted by Heldenleben View Post
                                Is it weird to find flower shows a bit sad ? Or am I over-sensitive ...?
                                Not sad, but just not your thing? Although I agree the flower arrangements can be grim still far far preferable to the animal equivalents I would suggest, with all their attendant sidelining of the animals' wellbeing during the process of breeding to show standards.

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