Pedants' Paradise

[Word]

If the English Spelling Society have considered adopting the American spelling for words such as 'colour', particularly if it is with the intention of simplifying pronunciation, then they should be taken across the Atlantic and shot.
Thanks to the 'u' the pronunciation of 'colour' has a warmth entirely lacking from 'col-OR'.

[french frank]

A word I have only just come across appears to have been invented in 1965: oracy - as a counterpart to literacy. If it was indeed a useful addition to the language, why have I never heard/read it before?

[I followed a link on the BBC news story about Finland's PBL experiments in their schools and it was on an education-based website]

[cloughie]

A word I have only just come across appears to have been invented in 1965: oracy - as a counterpart to literacy. If it was indeed a useful addition to the language, why have I never heard/read it before?

[I followed a link on the BBC news story about Finland's PBL experiments in their schools and it was on an education-based website]

On a similar theme I often think of those with maths problems as being dysnumeric cf dyslexic, but does the word exist? Checking it suggests that dyscalculic might be preferable but in typing this now both words get the red line.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

On a similar theme I often think of those with maths problems as being dysnumeric cf dyslexic, but does the word exist? Checking it suggests that dyscalculic might be preferable but in typing this now both words get the red line.

- The red line merely shows that the computer is higgerent!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyscalculia

... cf in particular: "Most studies done with comorbid samples versus dyscalculic-only samples have shown different mechanisms at work ..."

PS: "comorbid" gets the red line, too!

[jean]

A word I have only just come across appears to have been invented in 1965: oracy - as a counterpart to literacy. If it was indeed a useful addition to the language, why have I never heard/read it before?

You'd have heard of it if you'd dabbled in applied linguistics!

I often apply the term innumeracy to myself, but that's a counterpart to literacy and oract rather than dyslexia, and my incapacity is as much difficulty in seeing numbers clearly, especially the order they occur in, rather than an inability to manipulate them.

(I do think dyslectic is a much more etymologically-satisfying form than dyslexic.)

[gurnemanz]

Re oracy. The mention of this unfamiliar concept on here helped me solve a clue in today's i paper cryptic crossword:

"Account penned by Conservative initially lacking fluency"

[jean]

It's always surprised me that the return of explicit grammar teaching at KS2 hasn't provoked an outcry, given that it has brought back so much of what was (rightly) deemed useless in the 1960s - including the subjunctive!

https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-news/politician-takes-grammar-test-highlight-sats-stress

[Pulcinella]

According to the advert for Help Musicians on the back of the July 2017 issue of BBC Music Magazine....

His [Beethoven's] 200 year-old compositions are still packing concert halls today.

Has anyone heard any of them?

[Bryn]

According to the advert for Help Musicians on the back of the July 2017 issue of BBC Music Magazine....

His [Beethoven's] 200 year-old compositions are still packing concert halls today.

Has anyone heard any of them?

The only Beethoven 1817 composition I can think of is Op. 137 Fugue for String Quintet, not a work frequently performed, let alone "packing concert halls" today. There again, he did start serious work on the 9th Symphony that year.

[Pulcinella]

The only Beethoven 1817 composition I can think of is Op. 137 Fugue for String Quintet, not a work frequently performed, let alone "packing concert halls" today. There again, he did start serious work on the 9th Symphony that year.

I fear you (deliberately?) missed the point: the missing hyphen suggests that he was more of an infant phenomenon than we might previously have realised.

[Bryn]

I fear you (deliberately?) missed the point: the missing hyphen suggests that he was more of an infant phenomenon than we might previously have realised.

Just expressing an alternative truth, don't you know.

[Serial_Apologist]

Tereezer? Or Terayzer?

I tend to favour the first.

[cloughie]

Tereezer? Or Terayzer?

I tend to favour the first.

Either but I don't think Teri or Treece!

[Nick Armstrong]

Are the words "probable" and "likely" synonyms?

I've always assumed so, without ever thinking much about it. (In the law, they are pretty much interchangeable... "on the balance of probabilities", "more likely than not")

However someone this morning was trying to convince me that "probable" just means 'more than 50%' whereas "likely" indicates a higher chance...

The thoughts of learnèd forumites welcome.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Are the words "probable" and "likely" synonyms?

I've always assumed so, without ever thinking much about it. (In the law, they are pretty much interchangeable... "on the balance of probabilities", "more likely than not")

However someone this morning was trying to convince me that "probable" just means 'more than 50%' whereas "likely" indicates a higher chance...

I would have thought they were interchangeable. You might use "likely" when a higher chance is indicated, but prefixed with the word "more".