Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[jean]

(...only he'd probably have spelt it "différence" - sorry, I realise that it's not the pedantry thread, but)...

(No he wouldn't!)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

(...only he'd probably have spelt it "différence")...

[Serial_Apologist]

"Withdrawrall" seems to have become a commonplace pronunciation by radio reporters, as happened this morning on Today.

I've always assumed "Withdrawal" to be pronounced as two syllables, "with-drawal", not three.

[ahinton]

(No he wouldn't!)

I don't understand, your link is to the term "différance", not "différence", between the two of which there is, I believe, a "difference"...

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't understand, your link is to the term "différance", not "différence", between the two of which there is, I believe, a "difference"...

YES - there is; hence my "hard stare" in response to your #3720!

[Richard Tarleton]

An email from David Lloyd:

Did David Lloyd's use of "due to" set your teeth on edge, jean?

I've been enjoying the latest edn of The Times Style Guide, which puts it rather well (apologies if this has been discussed 16 times before on this thread): 'In an ideal world we might use "due" only as an adjective and insist on attaching it always to a noun....'

So "The closure of the pool was due to a child weeing in it" would be correct, but David Lloyd's usage, 'beloved of railway announcers, treats "due to" as a compound preposition eqivalent to "because of" or "owing to". But, as it's widely used, The Times says 'there is no need to take elaborate measures to avoid it'.

[vinteuil]

YES - there is; hence my "hard stare" in response to your #3720!

... ah, thanks for the clarification. I wozzent sufficiently versed in Paddington lore -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_XjlVrrU_A

.

[Pulcinella]

Did David Lloyd's use of "due to" set your teeth on edge, jean?

I've been enjoying the latest edn of The Times Style Guide, which puts it rather well (apologies if this has been discussed 16 times before on this thread): 'In an ideal world we might use "due" only as an adjective and insist on attaching it always to a noun....'

So "The closure of the pool was due to a child weeing in it" would be correct, but David Lloyd's usage, 'beloved of railway announcers, treats "due to" as a compound preposition eqivalent to "because of" or "owing to". But, as it's widely used, The Times says 'there is no need to take elaborate measures to avoid it'.

But does the ideal adjectival insistence suggested not mean we should only have uses such as....I will give due deference to someone?

[vinteuil]

Did David Lloyd's use of "due to" set your teeth on edge, jean?

I've been enjoying the latest edn of The Times Style Guide, which puts it rather well (apologies if this has been discussed 16 times before on this thread): 'In an ideal world we might use "due" only as an adjective and insist on attaching it always to a noun....'

So "The closure of the pool was due to a child weeing in it" would be correct, but David Lloyd's usage, 'beloved of railway announcers, treats "due to" as a compound preposition eqivalent to "because of" or "owing to". But, as it's widely used, The Times says 'there is no need to take elaborate measures to avoid it'.

... for those prepared to take elaborate measures to avoid errors in the 'due to' / 'because of' quagmire, praps this might be of help -

http://web.ku.edu/~edit/because.html

[jean]

But does the ideal adjectival insistence suggested not mean we should only have uses such as....I will give due deference to someone?

No - due can be a predicative adjective as well as an attributive one.

We are allowed to say things like The extreme pain I am suffering is due to your misuse of the phrase in question.

[jean]

I don't understand, your link is to the term "différance", not "différence"...

But how did you know which one ferney meant?

[P. G. Tipps]

"Withdrawrall" seems to have become a commonplace pronunciation by radio reporters, as happened this morning on Today.

I've always assumed "Withdrawal" to be pronounced as two syllables, "with-drawal", not three.

I cringed when I heard that too, S_A ... 'Lorr 'n' Awdah' has been another long-time favourite on the BBC!

[Serial_Apologist]

I cringed when I heard that too, S_A ... 'Lorr 'n' Awdah' has been another long-time favourite on the BBC!

I've told my Canadian friend about that particular one, to gauge her reaction. "Who's this Laura Norder you're on about?" she then asked!

[ahinton]

But how did you know which one ferney meant?

My response was to you, not fhg and it related to the link that you, not fhg, had posted.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

My response was to you, not fhg and it related to the link that you, not fhg, had posted.

I am aware that my feeble joculette was calculated merely to raise the tiniest kitten of a smile at most, but I don't think it merited you stuffing it with a few bricks into the sack of literalism and chucking it into the river of pedantry.