Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[LMcD]

Take care not to force it!

I thought a faucet was a gale on the Beaufort Scale.

[Bryn]

I thought a faucet was a gale on the Beaufort Scale.

[LezLee]

Nothing wrong with ‘got’ but ‘gotten’ a wee bit American? Mind you it didn’t do Gene Pitney any harm!

I've been visiting/living in Scotland since the 1970s and they've always used 'gotten' as much as 'got'. It's old English rather than American.

[Padraig]

I can't find the discussion on 'bigging', so here is a delayed contribution. Blame Thomas Hardy - I was reading him this morning.

"It was another wench,
Biggening as you, that he championed: yes, he came on straight
With a warmth no words could quench
For her helpless face, as soon as ever he eyed her state."

[gurnemanz]

I've been visiting/living in Scotland since the 1970s and they've always used 'gotten' as much as 'got'. It's old English rather than American.

Fairly detailed discussion here. Refers to Shakespeare using both forms.

(Henry VI pt 2, c1591): Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge
(Henry VI pt 3, c1591): The Army of the Queene hath got the field

Presumably the transition was taking place around that time.

[cloughie]

Fairly detailed discussion here. Refers to Shakespeare using both forms.

(Henry VI pt 2, c1591): Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge
(Henry VI pt 3, c1591): The Army of the Queene hath got the field

Presumably the transition was taking place around that time.

When was the ‘e’ dropped from queene?

[french frank]

When was the ‘e’ dropped from queene?

There doesn't seem to be an etymological reason for its presence. It looks as if it was added in the early medieval period and was being dropped by the latê 17th century.

[kernelbogey]

Special
As in 'She's a really special person'.
Or '....tonight Andrew McGregor presents a very special concert centred around legendary soprano Jessye Norman', Sunday's Prom blurb.
It increasingly means nothing, rather than what is presumably intended.

[LezLee]

'Centred around'. This is impossible!

[LMcD]

'Arrived into Gatwick (or wherever)' doesn't sound right to me.

[muzzer]

‘self-awareness’. Doh.

[Pulcinella]

'Centred around'. This is impossible!

I think that discussions can centre around the possibility of something happening.
I don't think I'd use 'on' or even 'round' in that expression.

[teamsaint]

'Arrived into Gatwick (or wherever)' doesn't sound right to me.

A search into the dictionary definition of “ into “ demonstrates why this is used, though I agree, it doesn’t sound quite right.

[gurnemanz]

'Arrived into Gatwick (or wherever)' doesn't sound right to me.

It may or may not be of interest or relevance but I remember when first learning German at school that "ankommen" (to arrive) behaves like a verb of motion in taking "sein" as its subsidiary to form its perfect tense. Ich bin angekommen = I have arrived. (Same in French: Je suis arrivé.) We also had it drummed into us that verbs of motion are used with the accusative preposition. So it confused me at first to find out that ankommen takes the dative preposition which shows position, because arriving is doing something at a place rather than going to a place. Presumably , in English "into", being a preposition denoting motion, is similarly wrong when used with "arrive".

Interestingly, French "j'arrive" means I'm on my way.

[LMcD]

It may or may not be of interest or relevance but I remember when first learning German at school that "ankommen" (to arrive) behaves like a verb of motion in taking "sein" as its subsidiary to form its perfect tense. Ich bin angekommen = I have arrived. (Same in French: Je suis arrivé.) We also had it drummed into us that verbs of motion are used with the accusative preposition. So it confused me at first to find out that ankommen takes the dative preposition which shows position, because arriving is doing something at a place rather than going to a place. Presumably , in English "into", being a preposition denoting motion, is similarly wrong when used with "arrive".

Interestingly, French "j'arrive" means I'm on my way.

That all takes me back to the late 1950s, when I was encouraged to concentrate on modern languages because I was rubbish at science subjects (except biology for some reason).
Surely one arrives at one's destination?