Phrases/words that set your teeth on edge.

[Nick Armstrong]

I once failed dismally to impress one of my senior colleagues. Visiting Riyadh, he kindly enquired as to how I spent my time, given the limitations that went with such a posting. I said that, among other things, I had been enjoying the opportunity of re-reading Richardson, and was just finishing 'Clarissa'. "Ah, yes" he said, appreciatively, "Richardson... " Then, after a pause, he added, "Yes, I've been re-reading 'Sir Charles Grandison'." Another pause. "... in German."

I know one-upmanship when I see it

The man was obviously a ludicrous intellectual popinjay.

[Nick Armstrong]

The Welsh health minister has just said on TV that her officials are reading the Francis report and that she will be talking to her chairs, which conjures up a lovely image.

Perfection, RT! That's really cheered me up after a rather testing meeting.

[vinteuil]

The man was obviously a ludicrous intellectual popinjay.

... yes - but I was just a wannabe intellectual popinjay

[mind you, I was a very young, very junior ossifer at the time ]

[jean]

The point is, Jean, your own English appears to be impeccable.

Ah, but you've never heard me talking to people, have you?

I considered this carefully while I was ate my mid-morning snack.

But you know, nobody at all (not even Northern people) ever said was ate.

Analogy isn't incontrovertible proof that a form is, or isn't, 'correct'.

.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Ah, but you've never heard me talking to people, have you?

So are you saying you take more care with your written English than your spoken English? I think we all do that.

But you know, nobody at all (not even Northern people) ever said was ate.

Analogy isn't incontrovertible proof that a form is, or isn't, 'correct'.

Even our friend MrGongGong doesn't go that far with his counter-arguments.

[ahinton]

I can’t see that this example is relevant. Sargent, in saying he was ‘showing off’ Shostakovich, was evidently making a (to him) witty, punning and disarming allusion to the accusation of ‘showmanship’ and the implication that he liked ‘showing off’, that he was a ‘show-off’. But ‘showing off’ isn’t the same thing as ‘showing’. You can ‘show off’ on the radio or in any medium, visual or otherwise. Would Sargent have said, in another, more normal context, e.g. if asked what his plans were for a forthcoming series of radio concerts, that he would be ‘showing’ Shostakovich? I don’t think so, and it would sound odd and inapt even today.

The relevance is in the very business of show and showmanship implied by the questioner. Someone who can see a conductor conducting or a pianist or violinist playing in a very energetic and demonstrative manner because they're at the live performance still gets to hear the same as they would if they heard the performances on the radio instead. Operas are, by their nature, stage works, so why broadcast Live from the Met or indeed transmit any other operatic production on radio? The use of the word "show" for many a radio programme is, as I've stated, a far from new phenomenon and opera broadcasts on radio are not exactly a recent thing either.

[ahinton]

Use of this expression tells us all we need to know about the commodification of art in today's society. Artists no longer create works of art or perform; they "showcase their talent", as if they are permanently auditioning or trying to sell us something.

That commodification irks the hell out of me as it obviously does you too but, to my mind, the pity in this particular use of "showcasing" isn't in its inappropriateness to describe what's usually being described by its use but in the very fact that people want to describe such things in the first place instead of getting their heads around the music and its performance.

[jean]

So are you saying you take more care with your written English than your spoken English?

No, not at all - I'm saying that I recognise that certain forms are more appropriate in spoken than in written English.

Even our friend MrGongGong doesn't go that far with his counter-arguments.

Mine is an excellent argument that anyone might be proud to avail themselves of.

They have my permission to do so.

[handsomefortune]

i am currently allergic to the over use of the word 'curate' especially where no one has actually curated anything at all....

simply making a list does not imo amount to curation for instance.

organising a live performance by various performers does not amount to curation either.

francine stock does not curate a selection of films for us to engage with on r4 ....(though i'm sure she's sensible enough to realise this, desists those who might prefer she express herself as a sycophant, or needy child might).

right, i'm off to curate some soup for supper.

[Sir Velo]

right, i'm off to curate some soup for supper.

With hard-boiled curate's egg?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No, not at all - I'm saying that I recognise that certain forms are more appropriate in spoken than in written English.


Mine is an excellent argument that anyone might be proud to avail themselves of.

They have my permission to do so.

You ain't seen nothing yet!

[handsomefortune]

there was i curating my egg soup ....when it was announced that kim kardashian is 'debuting' her baby bump.

what other bodily functions might we also 'debut'?

i might 'debut' a loud belch ....just for starters, followed by 'showcasing' a long, piercing howl (available on multiple platforms).

[JFLL]

The relevance is in the very business of show and showmanship implied by the questioner. Someone who can see a conductor conducting or a pianist or violinist playing in a very energetic and demonstrative manner because they're at the live performance still gets to hear the same as they would if they heard the performances on the radio instead. Operas are, by their nature, stage works, so why broadcast Live from the Met or indeed transmit any other operatic production on radio? The use of the word "show" for many a radio programme is, as I've stated, a far from new phenomenon and opera broadcasts on radio are not exactly a recent thing either.

This is still irrelevant to the Sargent story, which was about ‘showmanship’ and ‘showing off’ (a play on words), not whether ‘show’ could or should be said of a concert in normal usage.

A live performance could possibly be called a ‘show’ for the audience in the hall, because the performance is ‘shown’ to them -- they have a visual experience as well as an aural one. (But I’m sure that most concert-goers wouldn’t say they had been to a ‘show’, which usually refers to something like ‘Les Miserables’.)

But that was partly my point: even if the concert was a ‘show’ to the audience, it is only vicariously a ‘show’ to radio listeners. Yes, ‘show’ has been used of popular radio programmes for a long time, but not necessarily only for live performances with an audience, if I’m not mistaken, and not at all for classical concerts and recitals until very recently, and then possibly only by those in the trade such as R3 folk. (Rather as young classical performers might talk about their ‘gig’.) As for opera, if someone asked ‘Have you been to any good shows lately?’, the answer ‘Yes, Parsifal at Covent Garden’ could only be said jocularly, surely?

Apart from the use of ‘show’ -- and to get back to my original point -- ‘showcasing’ conjures up a distinct visual impression. The performer is presented as being on display in a glass case like a jewel (though the radio listener wouldn’t know, even if she was). I agree with Sir Velo that the word has a distinct whiff of commodification about it.

[ahinton]

Apart from the use of ‘show’ -- and to get back to my original point -- ‘showcasing’ conjures up a distinct visual impression. The performer is presented as being on display in a glass case like a jewel (though the radio listener wouldn’t know, even if she was). I agree with Sir Velo that the word has a distinct whiff of commodification about it.

I've already given my view on that, but I don't think that it's quite the same thing as what we're trying to discuss here (not that I'm in any sense undermining that particular commodification problem on which I agree with Sir Velo and perhaps you also).

[JFLL]

I've already given my view on that, but I don't think that it's quite the same thing as what we're trying to discuss here (not that I'm in any sense undermining that particular commodification problem on which I agree with Sir Velo and perhaps you also).

What are we trying to discuss, then, since it was my comment on the use of 'showcasing' which started this sub-thread and elicited your Sargent story?