tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post551211642534208417..comments2024-03-27T17:29:51.954+00:00Comments on Fr Hunwicke's Mutual Enrichment: Mostly PhilologyFr John Hunwickehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17766211573399409633noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-11995724655148408792016-08-27T10:36:13.274+01:002016-08-27T10:36:13.274+01:00"I have never noticed any analogous changes i...<i>"I have never noticed any analogous changes in the use of particles in the Attic Greek of different periods. Have you?"</i><br /><br />I think nun de rules all through the ages. I also think, no one was ever corrected as "monotone" for nun de, and so no one was ashamed of it.<br /><br />I think "well ... er ..." has been lampooned and therefore been replaced by a Hans Georg Lundahlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055583255516264955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-31530362653087448892016-08-25T09:48:12.630+01:002016-08-25T09:48:12.630+01:00Sorry Father, to be so late with this but,
"...Sorry Father, to be so late with this but,<br /><br />"A spokesman said: "The flight went really well and the only issue was when it landed."<br /><br />(airship! something many a pilot has thought!)Jacobihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04743062941733814176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-67574440972284772252016-08-25T02:57:20.215+01:002016-08-25T02:57:20.215+01:00News Anchor on the street: “And how is this impact...News Anchor on the street: “And how is this impacting you?”<br />Me: “I ain’t constipated!"tubbshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07272003035464034763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-8902894674567833492016-08-24T16:22:48.071+01:002016-08-24T16:22:48.071+01:00I used to try to avoid starting sentences with &qu...I used to try to avoid starting sentences with "so," until I noticed how much Waugh does it in his early years, and how well it worked.<br /><br />So now I use it. :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-70420674922725860222016-08-23T11:06:35.174+01:002016-08-23T11:06:35.174+01:00On "Trotsyite/ist" - the "ite"...On "Trotsyite/ist" - the "ite" ending is usually pejorative. Across a range of religious opinion, enquire of Pugin, Irving, Kensit and Paisley.<br /><br />On "issue" - I think the contributor above hits the nail on the head with management-speak's dislike of the negative. As a senior trade union rep in the GEC group - back in the days when Lord Weinstock was a Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365402242052425654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-20907053014450890812016-08-23T00:15:32.981+01:002016-08-23T00:15:32.981+01:00I think "so" is already evolving to &quo...I think "so" is already evolving to "I mean". I've heard it several times lately, most recently this evening.Lillibethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665437159699375343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-62055997711840609172016-08-22T19:48:33.437+01:002016-08-22T19:48:33.437+01:00It is impolitic in the workplace to reference prob...It is impolitic in the workplace to reference problems or even issues -- only challenges & opportunities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-67219913927369609732016-08-22T15:52:40.949+01:002016-08-22T15:52:40.949+01:00Imagine Apollo 13 - "Houston we have an issue...Imagine Apollo 13 - "Houston we have an issue". Would Houston have reacted as swiftly? There are times when the correct word is crucial.John Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17352405449391514146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-20322230203740394962016-08-22T14:18:31.616+01:002016-08-22T14:18:31.616+01:00The substitution of ‘So’ for ‘Well’ in these Unite...The substitution of ‘So’ for ‘Well’ in these United States began - I would posit - in the 1980s by Democrats in opposition to Ronald Reagan.<br /><br />Reagan was noted for beginning virtually all his replies to questions with: “Well…” A pregnant pause and a mischievous smile followed, allowing him to carry it off – like the timing of a stand-up comedian (he was an actor after all…).GORhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14313101159848740722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-63367347983273493262016-08-22T11:32:23.737+01:002016-08-22T11:32:23.737+01:00Evangelical intercessions that use "just"...Evangelical intercessions that use "just" as a mark of hesitant humility have a proper communal response of "mmm ...", a quiet hum of assent accompanied by a slow nod of the head.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-20005451441729127442016-08-22T10:18:35.164+01:002016-08-22T10:18:35.164+01:00Oh yes, 'prayerfully'!
In my previous ex...Oh yes, 'prayerfully'! <br /><br />In my previous existence as an Evangelical who perforce attended numerous prayer groups, I was always guiltily amused by the ubiquity of 'just': 'Lord, we just ask you that you would just heal our brother that he may just praise You...' I suppose it's a sort of linguistic humility, but it could be difficult to keep a straight face Sue Simshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05976537787708670241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-9823272968524308962016-08-22T00:53:38.199+01:002016-08-22T00:53:38.199+01:00We could go on. 'Five times more' instead ...We could go on. 'Five times more' instead of 'five times as much/many', 'five times less' rather than 'a fifth as much'; the use of 'appeal' as a transitive verb as well as 'protest' being used transitively when it shouldn't be - six years ago I was happy to 'protest the Pope' although even the egregious know-it-all Stephen Fry John Nolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09027156691859606002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-80265292248573828532016-08-21T23:58:58.123+01:002016-08-21T23:58:58.123+01:00It's a relief that someone else has noticed th...It's a relief that someone else has noticed this use of 'So' where 'Well' might be expected. I am fairly sure that it started with American interviewees offering opinions/explanations on TV/radio and is now used as an affectation by many Brits. Lepantohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02487748842744745860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-83991897502139150562016-08-21T23:04:17.370+01:002016-08-21T23:04:17.370+01:00“So” also has a connotation of skepticism in reply...“So” also has a connotation of skepticism in reply to someone’s proposal. <br /><br />I think you are right regarding “issue,” but it still has a neutral meaning, whereas “problem” is negative. Matthew Rothhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00958673318312786618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-90986178050527401892016-08-21T23:02:43.917+01:002016-08-21T23:02:43.917+01:00“Yer knowers” are the one I can't stand. Why ...“Yer knowers” are the one I can't stand. Why ask if we already knew. The “so” and I probably use it myself, stems from a pre-supposition that there is now rarely any widely accepted agreement on any subject in the Camera/ TV/internet age as we start to put our opinion across.<br /><br />But I like this word “problem”. Must use it more and fewer of these “, whatever they are called!Jacobihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04743062941733814176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-32562785274016639992016-08-21T22:53:27.891+01:002016-08-21T22:53:27.891+01:00This is fun!
As a bus user in The Other Place I c...This is fun!<br /><br />As a bus user in The Other Place I can assure you that "like" is ubiquitous among the anything but bimboid bright sparks who attend Hills Road Sixth Form College.<br /><br />I believe we owe "issue" to the management fad that asserted "there are no problems, only opportunities". Once this had become managerial orthodoxy and the problems had Mr Grumpyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-77781236360920828762016-08-21T22:35:55.520+01:002016-08-21T22:35:55.520+01:00Historical present is long established in jokes, o...Historical present is long established in jokes, of course: "A chicken walks into a library...."<br /><br />Another oddity I've noticed in recent years is "Can I get ....?" where I would have said, "Could I have...?" or "Could you give me....?" or just "....., please." I distinctly remember where I first heard it - Ritazza in Paddington Alanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16365402242052425654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-26719283167969579352016-08-21T22:04:27.599+01:002016-08-21T22:04:27.599+01:00Re 'Trotskyites' - Peter Hitchens wrote th...Re 'Trotskyites' - Peter Hitchens wrote this week that the true-believing followers of Trotsky called themselves 'Trotskyists', and that 'Trotskyite' was an insulting term used by Stalin and subsequently by Stalinists.<br /><br />Just a thought, but in that case a Trotskyist might deliberately 'reserve the truth' in claiming that there are 'no Trotskyites' John Vaschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00335331585265267754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-3006819359061703782016-08-21T21:11:43.206+01:002016-08-21T21:11:43.206+01:00The "historical present" is a normal usa...The "historical present" is a normal usage in German: "So, last Thursday I stand at the corner..." Come to think of it, the initial "so" may also come from there. Given the considerable German influx, it may have entered American English in that fashion. However, I have also heard the initial "so" assigned to Irish usage by Seamus Heaney as a way of TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-51166916807784644262016-08-21T20:32:50.414+01:002016-08-21T20:32:50.414+01:00The "back story 'so'":
http://w...The "back story 'so'":<br /><br />http://www.npr.org/2015/09/03/432732859/so-whats-the-big-deal-with-starting-a-sentence-with-soThomas Beyerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03633913073662106277noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-76528536309179050152016-08-21T19:43:31.881+01:002016-08-21T19:43:31.881+01:00Disinterested used where uninterested is meant;
re...<i>Disinterested</i> used where <i>uninterested</i> is meant;<br /><i>refute</i> used where <i>deny</i> is meant;<br /><i>literally</i> used in place of <i>very</i> to convey something extreme, not something factual.<br />I have recently been studying websites of charities devoted to rehoming unwanted pets and have come across <i>forever</i> extensively used as an adjective where <i>permanent</i>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-72476833888649999042016-08-21T19:11:35.239+01:002016-08-21T19:11:35.239+01:00I don't know if the historical present is &quo...I don't know if the historical present is "more exciting," and I'll take your word for it that it's overused (I don't watch TV or listen to radio very often), but it does seem that it would likely be more immersive, in a "put yourself in their shoes" sort of way. Given that the primary purpose of most television documentaries is less to educate than to Hrodgarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11052168727776803292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-47761798902511308992016-08-21T19:07:20.579+01:002016-08-21T19:07:20.579+01:00I wonder if 'so' as a discourse marker in ...I wonder if 'so' as a discourse marker in interviews comes from the fact that many of those who appear on, say, Radio 4's 'Today' programme belong to the classes whose working lives are nowadays spent almost entirely in meetings. I know that as a chairman I tend to sum up each item with a 'so' - "So ... we'll use Mr Longstaffe's field for the fete and ask Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15533152787340723191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-15521450797354180322016-08-21T18:29:45.922+01:002016-08-21T18:29:45.922+01:00All the posts thus far have been Awesome, except o...All the posts thus far have been Awesome, except one. The exception was Mighty.Simple Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09278399797941120022noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8940364093450837549.post-1138718170369751272016-08-21T17:49:40.810+01:002016-08-21T17:49:40.810+01:00The perpetual present was a delight when Damon Run...The perpetual present was a delight when Damon Runyon did it. But on a news broadcast? Perhaps not such a good idea.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00621128117848925453noreply@blogger.com