Pedants' Paradise

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Haitch.

Yes. That really is annoying.

[subcontrabass]

Ok, here goe's my rant, which I richly deserve, it being my birthday today!


When and why was the term 'national rail services' adopted over the more accurate 'main line' or 'overground'.

See http://wikipedia.orange.co.uk/wiki/National_Rail

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So it's the new name for British Rail.

And then there's
"Between you and I..."

[Sydney Grew]

When and why was the term 'national rail services' adopted over the more accurate 'main line' or 'overground'. . . . If you ask me it is the lack of pedantry that leads to this sort of obfuscation.

Quite so . . . and then there is the abomination "train station" - so often heard to-day from the lips of native Englishmen and Englishwomen.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Is this "abomination" an Americanism? I only ask. It's their spelling and pronunciation, and the expectation that we should put up with them, that is so abominable.
Take the word "centre". They reverse the final two letters and then pronounce it as though the "r" comes before the "e" anyway - and then they omit the "t".
So perhaps they should spell it "CENR".

[Sydney Grew]

. . . Take the word "centre". They reverse the final two letters and then pronounce it as though the "r" comes before the "e" anyway - and then they omit the "t".
So perhaps they should spell it "CENR".

How do they approach Jean-Paul Sartre I wonder?

Another irritation arises when ignorant people say "connaissOOer" and "amatOOer" - or even "amachOOer."

[Eudaimonia]

and then they omit the "t".
So perhaps they should spell it "CENR".

Educated, cultured people in the US most certainly do NOT omit the T.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

How do they approach Jean-Paul Sartre I wonder?

Another irritation arises when ignorant people say "connaissOOer" and "amatOOer" - or even "amachOOer."

You need to go to Lancashire to experience this in full. My father was from Patricroft. He never talked of going to Stockport; it was always Stockpooert. :)

[Bryn]

From today's Afternoon on 3 page:

Today we hear music-making from them both - with Stravinsky's brief sonorous 'symphony' preceding Mahler's most ambitious and all-embracing score.

Apart from the horrendous tautology, "sonorous 'symphony'", why the singular error? Stravinsky's work bears the title Symphonies of Wind Instruments. There is no implication of symphonic form. The winds sound together.

[Ferretfancy]

Here's another pet hate, the ugly use of the word "like", as in "Holiday in Eilat, it's like you have never been on holiday before " It may be grammatically correct, but it's very clumsy. " Holiday in Eilat, it's as if you have never been on holiday before " is much better to my ears.

[marthe]

Here's another pet hate, the ugly use of the word "like", as in "Holiday in Eilat, it's like you have never been on holiday before " It may be grammatically correct, but it's very clumsy. " Holiday in Eilat, it's as if you have never been on holiday before " is much better to my ears.

Ferretfancy, I agree with you about the ugliness of "like" in place of "as." In the early 1960s, we were told by our parents that the Winston cigarette commercial was not grammatically correct because it stated that "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should." Dad, for whom English was a third language, was quick to correct any lapses in grammar. His other pet peeve was when we said "gonna" instead of "going to." He would tell us not to carry "gunny sacks." I agree with Euda (from an earlier post) about the American pronunciation of "center/centre." Educated Americans do pronounce the T. Shedule/skedule is another matter. My English husband says shedule; I say skedule...though we both say tomahto!

[Panjandrum]

Educated Americans do pronounce the T. Shedule/skedule is another matter. My English husband says shedule; I say skedule...though we both say tomahto!

The pronunciation of "schedule" is a veritable hornet's nest. Quite why "educated" Brits get such a bee in the bonnet when the word is pronounced with a hard "c" is bizarre, given that no other "sch" words are pronounced with a soft "c" (eg "school"; "schism"; "scheme" etc). It all goes to show that there is often little logic in these matters, and that custom is behind most of these rules. Having said that "sked'yool" gets on my goat big time.

[vinteuil]

Though "schism" was traditionally pronounced - and still is so by many who know - as "sizm"...

[Keraulophone]

the ugly use of the word "like" - FF

The Headmaster of my children's school imposes a fine of 50p on any pupil thoughtless enough to utter a redundant "like" in any of his lessons. I approve; more especially that the busy head of a large secondary school actually makes time to do some real classroom teaching.

[Panjandrum]

Though "schism" was traditionally pronounced - and still is so by many who know - as "sizm"...

Well....My dick tells me that "schism" derives from the French "s(c)isme" which is where the "siz'm" pronounciation originates. However, this, in turn, comes from the Latin "schisma" from Greek "skhisma" (phonetic spelling), meaning cleft. Therefore, I think, the "skiz'm" pronounciation is to be preferred on the grounds of linguistic precedence, don't you?