Pedants' Paradise

[Serial_Apologist]

But aren't we customers these days?

Patients... we just have to be patient.

[gurnemanz]

Our son's partner is an NHS surgeon. We visited them in their new flat yesterday and she reminded us that private companies already have 70% of clinical contracts in England and that everything is in place for complete privatisation.

[Serial_Apologist]

Our son's partner is an NHS surgeon. We visited them in their new flat yesterday and she reminded us that private companies already have 70% of clinical contracts in England and that everything is in place for complete privatisation.

[Wychwood]

After being confronted by flood victims, Boris Johnson can hardly have soothed their anger by saying: "You cannot underestimate the anguish that a flood causes". Oh dear.

[teamsaint]

My first ( double) hernia had to be paid for by us and my mum, ( and it was in very urgent need of being done), because the “ NHS” surgeon refused to even put me on the list. Actually, he was a complete ******.

When I had a recurrence, ( due to poor quality work on the first operation by a “ specialist” surgeon at a highly reputable private hospital) , my local GP , who appears to have both a medical and a commercial brain, ( having listened to advice on a course that these things are most cost effectively dealt with quickly) recommended me for surgery which was done just a few weeks later in a private hospital on the NHS.
I think there probably is a place for some private contracting in the NHS, but it needs very close control.I am slightly conflicted.

[oddoneout]

Just heard in passing in a weather report - "on the positive side of freezing". Given the context I assume that means the temperature will be above freezing, so why not say that?

[LMcD]

When the FTSE or DOW Jones falls, one is told that prices are 'heading south'. Are followers of the Australian stock markets told that they're heading north?

[Pulcinella]

After being confronted by flood victims, Boris Johnson can hardly have soothed their anger by saying: "You cannot underestimate the anguish that a flood causes". Oh dear.

Ah: the rewards of an Eton and Oxford education.

[greenilex]

I think he meant “We should not underestimate...” but who knows what he ever means.

[Wychwood]

I suspect that he used the wrong word without realising it, and that what he meant was that it's impossible to OVERESTIMATE the anguish......

[Serial_Apologist]

I suspect that he used the wrong word without realising it, and that what he meant was that it's impossible to OVERESTIMATE the anguish......

"underestimate" was definitely a Freudian slip, imv.

[Keraulophone]

'heading south'

On being told one is singing a fraction ‘south of the note’, ought one to project the voice towards the north choir aisle?

[vinteuil]

After being confronted by flood victims, Boris Johnson can hardly have soothed their anger by saying: "You cannot underestimate the anguish that a flood causes". Oh dear.

.

... but don't fall in to the trap of misunderestimating him


.

[oddoneout]

After being confronted by flood victims, Boris Johnson can hardly have soothed their anger by saying: "You cannot underestimate the anguish that a flood causes". Oh dear.

I have noticed this misuse of 'underestimate' becoming more frequent; a classic one is 'impossible to underestimate'. The difficulty is that once such a misuse becomes common it tends not to register as such anymore especially among the likes of politicians and media people who seem to run on content-lite soundbite mode a lot of the time.

[ardcarp]

My current quibble is with the use of 'misnomer', which means using a name for something that is not appropriate. People increasingly use it to mean...well anything that they think is incorrect.