Pedants' Paradise

[Pabmusic]

This has probably been dealt with before.

Box set or boxed set?

I was disappointed to see this thread title on this forum of all fora.

OG

I'm sure the expression began as boxed sets (and old Gramophones seem to support that). There is a logic to it: the LPs came in boxes.

However, I don't much object to box sets, for two reasons. First, CDs sets don't always come in boxes - flimsy slipcases, yes, but not always boxes, so that the idea that sets are boxed might not always be obvious. Second, as time passes, fewer of us will remember the 'real' boxed sets, so that the expression will lose meaning and become a fossil. In that case, it will be simply an idiom whose original meaning is no longer relevant.

I've mentioned before that "a damp squib" is sometimes seen as "a damp squid". There are fewer people around who remember squibs - and squid are wet. There will no doubt come a time when no one will recall squibs, and perhaps 'squid' will triumph (if the expression survives in any form, of course).

[french frank]

I'm sure the expression began as boxed sets (and old Gramophones seem to support that). There is a logic to it: the LPs came in boxes.

Grammatically, I don't see a problem: one is a past participle, the other is a noun in apposition being used descriptively [I have discussions as to whether FoR3 is a listeners group or a listeners' group. I favour no apostrophe where to me (at any rate!) it is descriptive - a group for or comprising listeners - the sense of 'possession' doesn't seem relevant.

I've mentioned before that "a damp squib" is sometimes seen as "a damp squid". There are fewer people around who remember squibs - and squid are wet. There will no doubt come a time when no one will recall squibs, and perhaps 'squid' will triumph (if the expression survives in any form, of course).

Rather sobering to think of the squibs of our own childhood receding into a distant past along with perruques and breeches.

[Pabmusic]

...Rather sobering to think of the squibs of our own childhood receding into a distant past along with perruques and breeches.

Too true...

[And you're quite right about the grammar.]

[mercia]

footnote to aitch. Yesterday Radio 4extra repeated Pinero's play Dandy Dick, in which Blore the butler dropped his aitches but conversely added one to all words beginning with vowels.

[french frank]

footnote to aitch. Yesterday Radio 4extra repeated Pinero's play Dandy Dick, in which Blore the butler dropped his aitches but conversely added one to all words beginning with vowels.

Error and hypercorrection!

[JFLL]

Box set or boxed set?
OG

Going off at a tangent, does anyone know if you can buy blank boxes such as box(ed) CD sets come in?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Going off at a tangent, does anyone know if you can buy blank boxes such as box(ed) CD sets come in?

Oh! I do hope so - that would be so useful just now!

[french frank]

BBC online news story today:

"The London-born director, who began his career as a visual artist, holds the rare triumvirate of an Oscar, a Bafta and the Turner Prize." Well, I suppose Oscar and Turner would be two of them.

However OED:

1873 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. 2nd Ser. 2 The great triumvirate of Italian poetry, good sense, and culture. An example of the OED showing how the word has been used - albeit ignorantly? Is one allowed to say that?

[Padraig]

If you are asking me, ff, I would say I would not say that. I would be looking for a triple something, or maybe consider an Arts Tripos. But I would not stop you from saying it, as if I could!

[french frank]

But I would not stop you from saying it, as if I could!

No need to try - I couldn't say such a thing, even if I really, really wanted to. What was wrong with the simple 'triple' on its own?

[Padraig]

No need to try - I couldn't say such a thing, even if I really, really wanted to. What was wrong with the simple 'triple' on its own?

Maybe one would want to use it as an adjective to add a bit of style to the sentence - like a triple honour, or three-fold sensibility; because 'triumvirate' is such a lovely word to have to reject.
.
On the h front (above): it occurred to me that h plays a further role in Irish language pronunciation. When a letter is lenited, or aspirated, its pronunciation changes. For example, bean (ban) meaning woman, and mór (more) meaning big. To aspirate, h is placed after the b and the m - bhean (van) and mhór(wore). *We get the v sound with the slender vowel, e; and the w sound with the broad vowel, o.* Which is handy, since the Irish alphabet has no v or w.

*...........* NB - only when the letters b and m are aspirated

[jean]

That's not the same as lazily substituting an "r" with a "y".

But what could be lazier than writing 'substituting an "r" with a "y"' instead of 'substituting a "y" for an "r"'?

If you're going to be a pedant, do it properly is what I always say.

[jean]

BBC online news story today:

"The London-born director, who began his career as a visual artist, holds the rare triumvirate of an Oscar, a Bafta and the Turner Prize." Well, I suppose Oscar and Turner would be two of them.

However OED:

1873 J. R. Lowell Among my Bks. 2nd Ser. 2 The great triumvirate of Italian poetry, good sense, and culture. An example of the OED showing how the word has been used - albeit ignorantly? Is one allowed to say that?

I do expect a triumvirate to consist of three people, in some sort of ruling capacity. I suppose three magisterial attributes held to apply to people might be a reasonable extension, but three awards for different branches of achievement seems to be stretching it a bit.

.

[jean]

Box set or boxed set?

I don't really know why this bothers people; we commonly use nouns as premodifiers in English.

[gurnemanz]

Box set or boxed set? Also to do with getting the tongue round three adjacent consonants here "xds". In such cases the middle one will tend to vanish as in "postman" "Christmas" "waistcoat" "waltz" "postpone" "mustn't" etc