English Language - what "Does your head in" ??

[drossall]

Surely the idea of that usage is that, if the bad apples are left where they are, they will turn the whole barrel rotten.

[Bmblbzzz]

Yes, that's the consequence of there being a bad apple. It's the bit that's implied but not stated in "It only takes one bad apple." But if you never make that consequence explicit, it only takes a little change of wording from "It only takes one..." to "There's only one..." to alter the meaning. And as Merriam-Webster shows us, it's been used that way since at least the mid-90s. Whether it's now the majority usage, I'm not sure.

[Mick F]

Osmands.
1970

One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, I don't care what they say
I don't care what you heard now
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, give it one more try
Before you give up on love

[Jdsk]

Osmands. (sic)
1970

One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, I don't care what they say
I don't care what you heard now
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, give it one more try
Before you give up on love

Yes, the possibility that this affected common usage is mentioned in the history article cited upthread.

Jonathan

[Manc33]

Another one the football channels will not stop saying this month: "Best in class"

Man United are recruiting the best in class. Are they really! Do you have to say it fifty billion times?

[sjs]

Osmands. (sic)
1970

One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, I don't care what they say
I don't care what you heard now
One bad apple don't
Spoil the whole bunch, girl
Oh, give it one more try
Before you give up on love

Yes, the possibility that this affected common usage is mentioned in the history article cited upthread.

Jonathan

Perhaps this single "bad" usage is the one bad apple that has gradually spoilt all the other one bad apples.

[Pinhead]

I was in a cafe yesterday and the woman behind me could not string more than four words together without using "like"

Like we went to like town, we like saw christ learn to speak

Thank god "basically" has all but died out

However moprons on the news now say uptick, when it should be "increase"

[Bmblbzzz]

...we like saw christ learn to speak

Was this woman's name Mary?

[cycle tramp]

In the written form - a complete lack of punctuation. It's, basically, like, people don't know what a comma is.

(Edited) obviously, like, I had used the words 'written tense,' in the original, but as this was, like, a referral to time rather than form, i corrected it on the advise of another forum member.

[Jdsk]

What's "the written tense"? Tense refers to time, not medium.

Jonathan

[richardfm]

For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.

[Mike Sales]

Thank god "basically" has all but died out

Replaced by 'obviously.'

[Bmblbzzz]

For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.

John will tell you all you need to know. He's most upcoming.


Or how about using upcome to mean the opposite of downcome, eg "I'm responsible for his upcome; I made him a star. It was drink that was his downcome."

[Mike Sales]

For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.

John will tell you all you need to know. He's most upcoming.


Or how about using upcome to mean the opposite of downcome, eg "I'm responsible for his upcome; I made him a star. It was drink that was his downcome."

Upcoming at this moment in time going forward.

[richardfm]

For no rational reason I dislike "upcoming" and prefer "forthcoming".
To me "upcoming" jars and sounds modern but according to https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upcoming it has been in use since 1943.

John will tell you all you need to know. He's most upcoming.


Or how about using upcome to mean the opposite of downcome, eg "I'm responsible for his upcome; I made him a star. It was drink that was his downcome."

Upcoming at this moment in time going forward.