Pedants' Paradise

[french frank]

Indeed. How was it that the plural of opus came to mean a work of music drama?

French manages to treat 'opera' as masculine and feminine depending on the meaning, both singular, in the forms un œuvre and une œuvre. I suppose opus would have given un œuf, but that might have been confusing.

[gurnemanz]

Indeed. How was it that the plural of opus came to mean a work of music drama?

Having checked a Latin dictionary I now realise that I was unaware that Latin already had a feminine singular noun "opera", meaning "work" with its own plural "operae":

https://www.online-latin-dictionary.com/latin-dictionary-flexion.php?lemma=OPERA100

Italian must have taken this over and extended it to refer to a staged musical. "Opera" in modern Italian is still widely used as a singular noun denoting work in general as well as a musical genre. It has its own plural "opere".

Interesting that German took the word over without the final 'a', but kept it feminine, therefore taking 'n' in the plural - "Opern".

[Serial_Apologist]

French manages to treat 'opera' as masculine and feminine depending on the meaning, both singular, in the forms un œuvre and une œuvre. I suppose opus would have given un œuf, but that might have been confusing.

Not if it was hors d'oeuvre!

[kernelbogey]

People continue to apologise 'unreservedly' for this and that. (I've yet to hear anyone say they are apologising with reservations, although in fact that seems to happen.... )

It seems to be another meaningless cliched addition, like 'literally', as a kind of intensifier. I really, really apologise.

[gurnemanz]

People continue to apologise 'unreservedly' for this and that. (I've yet to hear anyone say they are apologising with reservations, although in fact that seems to happen.... )

It seems to be another meaningless cliched addition, like 'literally', as a kind of intensifier. I really, really apologise.

Likewise "heartfelt".

[oddoneout]

People continue to apologise 'unreservedly' for this and that. (I've yet to hear anyone say they are apologising with reservations, although in fact that seems to happen.... )

It seems to be another meaningless cliched addition, like 'literally', as a kind of intensifier. I really, really apologise.

The legal team has cleared them to apologise without any reserved matters?
I see it as all part of the "bigging up" trend of recent years - no-one has simple headaches or colds, they have migraines and flu, the mildly adequate becomes awesome, a reasonably competent sportsperson becomes a hero, etc

[kernelbogey]

...the mildly adequate becomes awesome....

A few years ago a young shop assistant said 'awesome' in response to my tendering the correct amount in cash for my purchase (of a chocolate bar)....

[gurnemanz]

A few years ago a young shop assistant said 'awesome' in response to my tendering the correct amount in cash for my purchase (of a chocolate bar)....

Reminded me for some reason of the two characters in the Reginald Perrin series who only ever said Great! or Super!

[Serial_Apologist]

Reminded me for some reason of the two characters in the Reginald Perrin series who only ever said Great! or Super!

How can misery be untold without provoking no response whatever?

[LeMartinPecheur]

This from the Independent's round-robin email update 'Inside Politics' today:

CHILD ASYLUM FEARS: Ministers have been accused of “washing their hands of” child asylum seekers after it emerged that child refugees are being forced to share rooms and even beds with adults they do not know as increasing numbers are incorrectly placed in accommodation meant for over-18s by the government. Hundreds of unaccompanied male and female asylum seekers who say they are children have been discovered in hotels intended for adults in recent months, with many fearful of leaving their rooms and some driven to suicidal ideation, while others have run away.

Today's winner of this forum's periphrasis/ euphemism prize??

[ardcarp]

BBC programmes which use a presenter often have a script which starts off, "I'm going to discover" followed by "I'm heading to..." or worse "I'm headed to...".

Why is there such conformity of approach? Is there some script Gauleiter who dictates the format?

Mu objection to "discover" is that we know perfectly well that the presenter is not going to discover anything in person. It's all been done before.
And as for '"heading"? Why is everyone heading? That's bad enough, but "I'm headed "? What part of speech is headed? Beheaded, yes,except that practicalities may prevent such an utterance. But can you say, in English, "I am headed"?

[french frank]

That's bad enough, but "I'm headed "? What part of speech is headed? Beheaded, yes,except that practicalities may prevent such an utterance. But can you say, in English, "I am headed"?

OED (a descriptive, not a prescriptive, dictionary) saith: "transitive (in passive). "Originally and chiefly U.S. To be moving in a specified direction or towards a particular place, person, or thing; to be moving or going." First example in 1831 ('The ship was headed for Nukuhiva'), the latest 2007 ('Jerome..talks to me about where I'm headed and what a wonderful place it is').

Journalism seems to be a particularly frequent conduit of US usage into the UK.

[Bryn]

OED (a descriptive, not a prescriptive, dictionary) saith: "transitive (in passive). "Originally and chiefly U.S. To be moving in a specified direction or towards a particular place, person, or thing; to be moving or going." First example in 1831 ('The ship was headed for Nukuhiva'), the latest 2007 ('Jerome..talks to me about where I'm headed and what a wonderful place it is').

Journalism seems to be a particularly frequent conduit of US usage into the UK.

Hmm. I wonder what heading you are on there.

[french frank]

Hmm. I wonder what heading you are on there.

Transitive (passive), Bryn

[Serial_Apologist]

Nobody at the BBC will be headed anywhere if a rule banning heading in football is introduced and then applied to other activities!